NZ investors hit by US scam

New Zealand investors have been targeted by scam artists posing as phony securities regulators in the United States, Californian media reports say.

Wayne Strumpfer, California's acting corporations commissioner, issued an alert after regulators in Missouri, Montana, New Jersey and other states uncovered cases where thieves pretending to be regulators duped investors.

In Montana, state officials received many international inquiries about Royal Acquisitions and the International Securities Regulatory Commission, which both claimed to be based there.

Royal contacted investors in New Zealand offering to buy shares of a computer company now considered worthless.

To sell stock to Royal, investors were told to pay the firm 10 per cent of the purchase price as a "fully refundable" investment verification credit.

The website and physical addresses Royal gave were bogus. Australian and British investors were also targeted.

- NZPA