Dear jmarkj,
I have done more research, and even without additional details about
who the callers claimed to be, I can say for sure that they are
fraudsters.
What they are trying to do is one of the many variations of "Advance
Fee Scams". This particular variant is rather common; it is also known
as the "Cold Call" scam method. The basic principle of those scams is
always the same: A share owner gets a call out of the blue - a
so-called "cold call" - by an alleged company and is asked to sell his
shares at a tempting price. Then, the caller claims that a refundable
advance fee must be paid by the seller to remove the "restrictions"
from the shares. This advance fee is known under various names,
"restriction fee" being only one of them.
Such offers are always scams. In the United States, there are no
restrictions on selling private stock, and therefore there are no
"restriction fees" that need to be paid in advance. Once a such fee is
paid, the money is lost for the scammed stock owner; and of course, no
one will buy the shares. Interest in those shares is only simulated to
make the stockowner pay the advance fee. This kind of scam exists in
numerous variants.
Please note what the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says
about such frauds:
"Advance Payment Requests ? Regardless of how the fraudsters pitch
their offers to ?help?, there?s always a catch. Before they will
complete the deal, they first will ask for an upfront ?security
deposit? or ?margin payment? ? or claim that you must post an
?insurance? or ?performance bond.? The minute you pay the advance fee,
the fraudsters nearly always disappear ? leaving you with new losses.
If you seem willing to make further payments, the con artists may
instead keep asking for more ? falsely claiming that the market price
of the security has changed or that the payments will cover additional
fees, taxes, bonds for the courier service, or other similar expenses.
Only when you finally run out of patience or money to chase your
losses do the fraudsters disappear for good."
http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/worthless.htm
You might also be interested in what the National Association of
Securities Dealers (NASD) writes about this and similar frauds:
http://www.nasd.com/web/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=1357
By the way, I also checked the Tokyo address. While Wakamatsu Building
indeed exists, it is managed by a company that provides "virtual
offices" (Scammers often use such virtual offices that are actually
nothing but mailboxes as so-called "boiler rooms"). It is not the
physical location of that company, and I doubt that "Nakamoto
Internarional Group" even exists, for the following reasons:
- There are absolutely no traces of this company anywhere on the Web,
which is already highly suspicious. There is a real Japanese company
of a similar name (Nakamoto International Accounting Firm), but they
are accountants, and they are located at a completely different
address.
- "Nakamoto International Group" is not listed anywhere in the List of
Licensed Financial Institutions maintained by the Japanese
Government's Financial Service Agency
Therefore, there can be no doubt that they tried to scam you. I advise
to not do any business with them.
Regards,
Scriptor
Sources:
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: Worthless Stock
http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/worthless.htm
National Association of Securities Dealers: Well-Traveled
Fraud?Advance-Fee Scams Target Non-U.S. Investors Using Fake Regulator
Web Sites and False Broker Identities
http://www.nasd.com/web/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=1357
Japanese Financial Services Agency: List of Licensed Financial Institutions
http://www.fsa.go.jp/en/regulated/licensed/index.html
New Zealand Serious Fraud Office: Alert - Advance Fee Fraud
http://www.sfo.govt.nz/advfee.html
Stock Watchers: Nationwide Mergers & Acquisitions Inc.
http://www.stock-watchers.com/nationwide_mergers_and_acquisitions.html
Stock Watchers: Crest International Holdings
http://www.stock-watchers.com/crest_international_holdings.html
Wakamatsu Building Tokyo
http://moveandstay.com/tokyo/offices_description.asp?id=948 |
