The Internet is an enormously powerful instrument that has improved all of our lives in several different ways. The only downside to the Internet is that it can be used to hurt individuals as well. It is very easy to cheat, lie, steal, threaten other people, sell arms and drugs, expose children to pornography, and a lot of other things. There is an increasing amount of evil actions carried out over the Internet by people with bad intentions every year. In the year 2001the FBI reported that there was an estimated $455 million dollars stolen through computer scams (O"Reilly 8/9/2003).
With these brief facts of Internet scandals, one would believe that the Internet is a horrible thing for the stock market to take on. Money alone can change people and to tempt people with the opportunity to steal is almost like putting cheese on a mousetrap and not expecting the mouse to bite at it. The stock markets have a history of corruption, scandals, and deceit. This is basically driven by one factor: Making MORE MONEY!!! Now the average Joe who tries to start his own investment on the internet, whether it is a 401k, an IRA, a Roth IRA, or a mutual fund, does not want to pay maintenance fees or broker fees or anything else for the matter. The average investor thinks the same basic principle: How do I make my money work for me the best? They normally get the same privileges that all brokers have right? Wrong. This is where some scandals take place.
Companies offer these types of investment opportunities for their employees and they invest thinking it is secure and safe. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Firms such as Invesco and Bank Of America Investors, along with others, where recently caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Noreen Harrington, a 20-year-old veteran from Wall Street, recently spoke out about companies that were violating trading laws and skimming money from mutual fund short sales.