ONLINE FRAUD – WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER

THERE ARE SPECIFIC ISSUES THAT IMPACT US AT SOGOTRADE BUT THE LESSONS AND DISCIPLINES WE SUGGEST AND EMPLOY OURSELVES TO AVOID THESE PROBLEMS CAN MAKE US ALL MORE SECURE

SogoTrade has one official website. There are two versions to access this.

The common input - SogoTrade.com

The more complete URL - https://www.sogotrade.com/

NOTHING ELSE


Fraudsters will try to confuse online visitors by having a look alike website to SogoTrade.com in an attempt to obtain your user ID and password or other information, have you click on links that can cause a virus to download on your computer or other nefarious activity. For example, the name can be Sogotrading, or Sogotradeez or Sogosecurities. Anything other than SogoTrade.com is fraudulent. This list can be near endless. DO NOT open these web sites, enter any information on them or click on any links in them, or in any e-mail or text you may receive from them.

Additionally, fraudsters will do everything they can do to have you send them money. Here is an example of one difference. They want you to send money to themselves, in their name. SogoTrade will never does this. At SogoTrade you open a SogoTrade account in your name. SogoTrade engages a clearing firm, Apex Clearing Corp, to maintain your account and perform all the communications and notices appropriate to confirm to you that your assets are secure and under your control in your own account. You WILL NOT be sending your funds and assets to SogoTrade or in SogoTrade’s name. You will be sending your funds and assets to our clearing Firm, Apex Clearing Corporation, to be deposited into your account opened and maintained at SogoTrade.

Other steps you can take to protect yourself and your account at SogoTrade include:

  • Do not give your user ID or password to anyone else. SogoTrade will never contact you and ask you for this information.
  • Do not share personal information like your bank/brokerage account number, Social Security number, or date of birth. This includes the last four digits of your Social Security number, as it is used by many companies as the default PIN on accounts, and fraudsters know this.
  • Collect your mail every day, and place a hold on your mail when you will be away from home. Also consider signing up for paperless statements and confirms, to keep your sensitive mail from falling into the wrong hands.
  • Review credit card and bank/brokerage account statements. Watch for and report unauthorized or suspicious transactions.
  • Do not carry personal information, such as your Social Security Card, in your wallet or purse.
  • Take care when using a public WI-FI network, as they are not secure and fraudsters may take advantage.
  • Do not answer phone calls, texts, social media messages, or email from numbers or people you do not know.
  • If you use the Notes feature on your cell phone for account numbers and passwords, including for airlines and hotels, be sure to use the lock feature, to protect this information from prying eyes when you are in an area with free Wi-Fi, or it sync’s to your phone services cloud storage.
  • Use a unique password for your SogoTrade account, and a separate one for your bank account, ones that you do not use on any other online sites.
  • Use a password that is sufficiently complex, but one you can remember. Do not use your name, date of birth or address as your password. Do not use “Password” as your password. Consider signing up for a password manager service.
  • Obtain and review your credit report. Credit bureaus are required by law to provide you with a copy of your credit report for free.
  • If you have been a victim of identity theft or are concerned about becoming a victim, consider adding a fraud alert to your credit file with a credit bureau, or adding a credit freeze.
  • Obtain credit monitoring from a credit bureau. It is typically offered for free.
  • Visit the Federal Trade Commission’s web site for more information at: Identity Theft | Consumer Advice (ftc.gov)


FINIA Logo

FINRA

There is a very valuable resource you have available. FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) maintains a quick tool to confirm the integrity of a US Broker Dealer.

Brokercheck.finra.org --If the firm that has contacted you is not recognized by this resource – be very very concerned.

Fraudsters have been impersonating legitimate websites for many years. Recently this has been increasing. The fraudsters will copy the content and even the names of the legitimate firm’s professionals who are not involved in the fraudulent website in any way. They will em-ploy any tactic they can conceive of to make their fraudulent website look to be the legitimate firm you may be familiar with.

This being said, it can be difficult to observe these fraudulent activities.



FTC logo

Federal Trade Commission

Phishing emails and text messages can be used to trick people to engage with a fraudster by having them click on a link or download an attachment. Their content can easily draw an un-suspecting reader to act.

They may refer to their notice of suspicious activity, problems with your account or a fake in-voice. Anything like this should be reviewed on your part with serious concern.

The following is directly from the FTC website:

You should never click the links provided in emails you can't independently confirm. Doing so will make your computer and personal information vulnerable to viruses and malware. Again, though the sender may seem legitimate—which is exactly what the scammer wants you to believe—no reputable institution will ask for your password or other key personal information online. Receive a suspicious message? Report it to the Federal Trade Commission so they can help protect others.


FBI Logo

The FBI

Protection from online criminals cannot be left up to only government or corporations in the private sector. The prevention of internet-enabled crimes requires each of us to be aware and on guard.

We should protect our systems and data with reputable anti-virus pragrams, and we should not open any attachments until we have verified the sender.

We should be careful of public Wi-Fi networks. Not that we would never use them. We should consider not using them for sensitive transactions.

We should protect our assets by not responding to a request for payment from an account of ours. All transactions should be made following you logging into your account directly. Addi-tionally using a credit card for payments can add a level of protection. Also a non confirmed request for immediate response should be considered for confirmation.

The following is directly from the FBI website:

If You are a Victim, File a Report with the FBI IC3

If you are the victim of an online or internet-enabled crime, file a report with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) as soon as possible.

Crime reports are used for investigative and intelligence purposes. Rapid reporting can also help support the recovery of lost funds. Visit ic3.gov for more information, including tips and information about current crime trends.

Contact Information

  • Nationwide Call Center
  •  US: 1-888-709-7646
  •  Outside US: 1-646-885-6594
  • Service Hours                    
  • Monday - Friday
  • 7am - 8pm ET