PR–031–2018
29 May 2018

                          Advisory on Potential Investment Scams

      The Philippine Embassy in Muscat reiterates its advisory to Filipino
nationals in the Sultanate of Oman to be wary of potential investment scams.
These investment scams usually promise high returns with little or no risk to
the investor and are often in the form of Ponzi or “pyramiding schemes.”

     The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (PSEC) provides
some of characteristics of investment scams, as follows:

      1. A guarantee of a huge profit in a very short period;
     2. Often utilize a binary network (i.e. upline and downline) to earn 
         commissions;
     3. Operate without paper trail (i.e. contracts, receipts)
     4. The promise of little or no financial risk;
     5. Impose provisions for a lock-up period where an investor cannot
         touch the investment (for example, 60 days);
     6. Assure pay-off of investments in a short time;
     7. Use methods to convince investors to immediately reinvest earnings;
     8. Information about their principal office, address, founders, directors or
         officers are unknown; and
     9. Orientation seminars are conducted informally.

     In view thereof, the Embassy warns the public to exercise caution when
investing and that investment opportunities carry some form of risk. IF
AN OFFER IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, THEN IT PROBABLY IS NOT
TRUE.

                                       ***************