US SEC sues two private funds, alleging they falsely sold pre-IPO shares in popular companies such as OpenAI and SpaceX, and misappropriated investors’ funds.
These scams involving “piggybacking on celebrity unlisted equity” have clearly increased during the AI boom. Real shares are almost impossible to end up in retail channels. Anyone claiming they can obtain OpenAI or SpaceX pre-IPO allocations at a low price and promising high returns should basically be treated with skepticism.
This time, the SEC directly named top target companies, which also serves as a warning to the market: the more “star” companies everyone wants to get in on, the more likely they can be used as a front for fraud.
These scams involving “piggybacking on celebrity unlisted equity” have clearly increased during the AI boom. Real shares are almost impossible to end up in retail channels. Anyone claiming they can obtain OpenAI or SpaceX pre-IPO allocations at a low price and promising high returns should basically be treated with skepticism.
This time, the SEC directly named top target companies, which also serves as a warning to the market: the more “star” companies everyone wants to get in on, the more likely they can be used as a front for fraud.