Check a name against the SEC alert list
Check a firm, a website or a telephone number against the SEC’s public alert list in about a minute.
The SEC keeps a public list of firms it has had reports about, including the ones borrowing somebody else’s identity. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which watches a different corner of the same world, keeps a similar list of its own.
One more thing, worth holding onto: a genuine firm never minds you calling the number on its own record instead of the one you were given. An unexpected call about your retirement savings is, by itself, reason enough to end it.
Key points
- Check a firm, a website or a telephone number against the SEC’s alert list
- Read a blank result as “not yet reported”, never as “safe”
- Follow the order if you have already been contacted: stop, bank, report, tell the real firm
What to remember
- The alert list is free. Anybody can look before parting with anything.
- Being on the list settles it. Not being on it settles nothing.
Try this
Search for the SEC PAUSE list and look at the page. Knowing it exists is what matters when a brochure arrives.
Practice: Check a name against the SEC alert list. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.