“The creation of Petros will definitely push open the local oil and gas market further.”

VIKAS HALAN, Moody’s Investors Service vice-president and senior credit officer of corporate finance

KUALA LUMPUR: The Securities Commission (SC) has warned investors over the increase use of blogs, forums and social media platforms to spread false and misleading information on certain companies in order to perpetrate “pump and dump” schemes.

The SC said the perpetrators would accumulate shares at lower prices before posting positive sentiments about the companies, with the intention to spur interest in the shares in order to drive up the prices.

Then, when investors buy the shares, it gives the perpetrators an opportunity to sell at a profit, said SC.

Investors who have bought shares at the inflated price will suffer losses when the hype eases, said SC.

The SC and Bursa Malaysia recently identified a blog that had published various articles containing statements and forecasts that were misleading and deceptive, an offence under Section 178 of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007.

Following SC’s intervention action, the blog has been removed.

The SC advises investors to always exercise diligence and verify the legitimacy of information before making an investment decision.

Investors are reminded to be cautious of the risk of fraud and when in doubt, to seek advice from persons who have been licensed by the SC.