Bernie Madoff – Fraud Hall of Fame

As if things weren’t tough enough for Bernie Madoff’s victims: Scam artists have created a faux website mimicking that of the agency handling claims for the swindler’s investors.

As if things weren’t tough enough for Bernie Madoff’s victims: Scam artists have created a faux website mimicking that of the agency handling claims for the swindler’s investors.
The phony group has created a website that looks similar to the one run by the Securities Investor Protection Corp.

The real SIPC is an insurance fund that covers up to $500,000 of investor losses if a brokerage firm fails. Yesterday, the SIPC said a fraudulent group had set up the website I-SIPC.com and was attempting to lure Madoff’s victims.

Among the claims on the fraudulent website: that $1.3 billion hidden by Madoff in Malaysia has been found. The phony group claims to have ties to the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund.
In a statement, the SIPC’s president, Stephen Harbeck, said, “This bogus group is already attempting to obtain funds and confidential financial information from investors in the U.S.’’ He said Madoff’s victims and others should not reveal any personal financial data on the I-SIPC site or rely upon it as a source of information. “We intend to use every available means to shut down this illicit operation,’’ Harbeck said.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission issued a statement about the group’s posing as an international branch of the SIPC. “Never underestimate the creativity and duplicity of con artists,’’ the SEC said. “They will do anything to separate you from your money and securities.

Madoff’s victims thought they had $65 billion in their accounts when the Ponzi artist confessed to his crimes in December 2008. The SIPC, working with the trustee in the Madoff bankruptcy case, Irving Picard, has received 12,047 claims from victims. So far, 1,936 have been allowed, and $650 million has been approved for payment.