Beware the Wolves of WhatsApp investment scam

👋 Welcome to Trendlines, where we just noticed the online betting site Polymarket puts the odds of Joe Biden dropping out of the presidential race at 57 percent.

I'm Boston Globe financial columnist Larry Edelman , and today I report on "pump-and-dump" investment scams proliferating online.

Plus: Honey, don't forget to pick up some ammo at the grocery store.

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Just hit delete

🔵 Advent International is one of the bluest blue-chip names in private equity.

So a friend and former Globe colleague knew something was awry when he was swamped by WhatsApp messages purporting to come from Advent.

• “Hello, new friends, welcome to the Advent International investment community group. My name is Mark Dirzulaitis. I am a senior analyst and investment director at Advent,” the first message read.

🗞️ The news

While Mark Dirzulaitis is an actual vice president in Advent’s New York office, his name and reputation had been hijacked by online crooks. The invitation to join the “investment group” was simply the first step in a con.

• An Advent spokesperson told me the firm was aware of the bogus messages and had asked that “the relevant communications platforms remove the impersonating accounts.”

• But my friend is continuing to get the WhatsApp messages.

🖼️ Big picture

Fraudulent investment pitches are common and spreading fast thanks to the ubiquity of email, texting, and social networks, consumer advocates and financial regulators say.

• The messages my friend received appear to be a “pump-and-dump” stock scheme adapted for digital media. In a classic pump-and-dump — see Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” with Leonardo DiCaprio — boiler-room brokers working the phones hype a penny stock relentlessly, dupe investors into buying, and cash out after all the trading drives the stock price higher.

🤓 Expert advice

Now, I know what you’re thinking: Who is naive enough to fall for such an obvious trick?

• “It can be men, women, older, or younger,” said Amy Nofziger, director of victim support at the AARP Fraud Watch Network. “It’s a family member, a neighbor, someone you may know. Don’t think you are not vulnerable.”

💡 Final thought

It’s easy to avoid being scammed.

“Do not engage,” Nofziger said. “No legitimate, successful investor has to seek clients on WhatsApp.”

📈 Trending

Economy: Inflation cooled more than expected in June, raising hopes that the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates soon.

Health Care: Steward Health Care paid a surveillance firm $1.6 million in the months before it filed for bankruptcy.

Taxes: The IRS said it has collected $1 billion in back taxes from wealthy taxpayers.

👎 The Closer

American Rounds has come up with the brilliant idea of selling ammo in grocery store vending machines. The AP reports:

American Rounds said their machines use an identification scanner and facial recognition software to verify the purchaser’s age and are as “quick and easy” to use as a computer tablet.

The Texas (of course) company has installed its machines in stores in Alabama, Oklahoma, and Texas.

File under: guns and butter.

Makes me think of the photo of the band Uncle Tupelo in front of the "Liquor Guns & Ammo" store.

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