Scam on scam

As if the Madoff victims haven't been taken quite badly enough, along comes yet another apparent con. The Securities Investor Protection Corporation, which provides limited protection to customers of failed Wall Street firms, sent out a press release warning the Madoff people that the International Securities Investor Protection Corporation was mimicking its site. Worse still, the ISIPC claims to have discovered $1.3 billion of Madoff assets in Malaysia and is asking victims to submit their claims and other bits of confidential info. From DealBook:

SIPC warned that this group, which claims to have headquarters in Geneva, may be seeking to commit identity theft. The legitimate organization's president, Stephen Harbeck, said in a statement that it is trying to shut down ISIPC. "We know from information provided to us by individuals that this bogus group is already attempting to obtain funds and confidential financial information from investors in the U.S.," he said. "SIPC wants to be as clear as possible that Madoff victims and other investors should not share any personal financial information via this Web site or rely upon it as an information source."

ISIPC also claims to be involved in disbursing $90 million to Haiti.