The investment world is full of scam artists and con men, and one of their favorite tricks is to join an investment-related discussion forum like this one under a false identity, then make a few intelligent-sounding posts in order to gain a reputation as “one of the smart guys”. Then comes the scam – usually a “Pump & Dump” scheme involving penny stocks.

Sadly, these individuals will almost certainly try to infiltrate our forums as well. We know they’re coming and we have a plan for dealing with them, which starts with warning you right here and now to be skeptical about the intentions of other forum participants offering investment ideas or advice, especially if it pertains to illiquid investments such as penny stocks or private equity deals. A slightly less offensive type of forum abuse involves people promoting themselves or their own products and services while posing as a satisfied customer of those products or services and recommending them to others. They often create several different user accounts so they can create the false sense of a “consensus among users” that their product or service is the best of the best.

Don’t get us wrong – you’re welcome to share investing ideas with other listeners. That’s a big part of what this forum is for. Please just keep in mind the possibility that some of the other users posting here could have ulterior motives. Recommendations involving “penny stocks” are most suspect.

We reserve the right to delete posts and/or ban users whom we suspect of participating in our forums under false pretenses. If you see anything suspicious, please report it to our moderators right away. Macro Voices and its hosts and sponsors shall not be liable for investment losses resulting from “forum abuse”.

To the scam artists and con men: We strongly encourage you to just give up now and take your scams elsewhere. We know all your tactics, and we intend to monitor our forum carefully for abuse. You’re wasting your time here. We’re going to find you out, delete your posts, and ban you. You’re really much better off perpetrating your scams on another website that isn’t as closely moderated as this one.