The Securities and Exchange Commission is warning investors to be on guard against a new type of investment scam involving fake Form 4 filings. Fraudsters are sending official-looking Form 4 documents to potential victims, trying to establish credibility and dupe them out of money.

In some cases, the scammers pose as brokers or advisers and email fake Form 4s claiming they confirm the investor's purchase of shares, even though no actual trades were made. The fraudsters have simply stolen the investor's money. In other instances, the scammers say the fake filings prove stock is held in the investor's name, and they demand payment of bogus "taxes or fees" to recover supposed losses - just another ploy to steal more funds.

The SEC stresses that Form 4 is merely a disclosure by corporate insiders of their transactions, not a trade confirmation for regular investors. Investors can check the EDGAR database to verify if any purported Form 4 filing on their behalf is legitimate. The SEC itself does not send out confirmations of individual investment transactions.

The agency warns investors to always independently verify the registration of any broker or adviser attempting to sell them investments. Be skeptical of convincing websites that may actually be set up by con artists. If someone claims to be registered, check their status rather than taking their word for it.

Additionally, fraudsters may impersonate the SEC through fake emails, phone calls and other communications to try to gain investors' trust and personal information. The SEC cautions investors not to get fooled by official-looking domains or messaging until positively confirming any communication is truly from the agency.

Overall, the alert provides practical tips for investors to protect themselves from fraudulent Form 4 filings and other schemes where scammers use deceptive tactics to unlawfully separate people from their money.