With advanced technology blurring the line between physical and digital worlds, scam artists are already busily using the metaverse to bring to market a host of new investment schemes, state securities regulators warned in a new investor advisory (https://www.nasaa.org/65299/informed-investor-advisory-metaverse/) today.
The alert from the North American Securities Administrators Association (Nasaa) cautioned investors to protect themselves from fraudulent offerings in the metaverse, an unregulated online “world” that provides users the ability to participate in immersive experiences by using virtual or augmented reality technologies.
The advisory warns that the lack of regulation combined with the ability to operate from anywhere in the world, makes it easy for fraudsters to hide their financial schemes. Scam artists have already created offerings for virtual real estate, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and other businesses, Nasaa said.
“Our experience with so-called investment opportunities found in the metaverse, is that we see the same old financial scams simply dressed in new clothes and offered to investors in the metaverse. Investors need to be wary of any investment that is promising unrealistic returns with minimal risk,” Nasaa President and Maryland Securities…
