During civil and commercial litigation, public courts are equipped to oversee cases in which investors were misled. Securities fraud happens when you’re intentionally misled regarding your investments. In Florida, fraud isn’t always easy to detect, but the following signs expose it.
Seeing unauthorized transactions
Even when it’s a mistake by your broker, you may find investments entered for you that you didn’t enter yourself. These aren’t instant cases of fraud, but an investigation is warranted here. In the future, consider keeping a journal of your orders, noting when they were made and for which assets.
Brokers ignoring your messages or calls
Following up on the data you believe is fraudulent begins with directly contacting your broker. No assumptions should be made until they’ve been proved. However, you have a reason to be concerned if your broker ignores your attempts to contact them.
Rising markets but decreasing account balances
A rising market is usually beneficial when others are managing investments for you. In common cases, your account should follow market trends. It’s possible that you’re being cheated if your account doesn’t perform alongside a rising market.
Omitting or misrepresenting data
In civil and commercial litigation cases, omitting or misrepresenting information has legal consequences. Should a court find that an omission was made in the interest of your broker, then you have the right to exhaust your legal grievances. When you want to act on data that’s being presented as true, confirm, and then preserve that info to later show it as evidence in court.
Keeping your legal avenues open
Civil and commercial litigation establish the basic laws that protect you from securities fraud. By not making false reports or inflating market prices, your fiduciary is legally obligated to your financial well-being. Ask an attorney about fraud when your fiduciary, instead, continues to err.