Protect Yourself from Online Fraud It has come to our attention that fraudsters purporting to be PIMCO staff have been attempting to commit fraud and deceive investors into trading on dubious investments. Additionally, there have been recent cases where fraudsters have circulated counterfeit PIMCO investment product materials in chatrooms and claimed the products are sold via certain distributors only. PIMCO wishes to remind our investors to be aware of online fraud and to take steps to prevent themselves from falling victim to “phishing” scams. Online fraud refers to any fraudulent scheme that uses email, social networking sites, instant messaging, websites or other online communication to defraud prospective victims. Often these schemes are sophisticated and use professional-sounding communications or logos to look like they come from a large organization you already know and trust. These schemes often appear believable because the fraudsters use information from your social media profiles and seem to know a lot about you. What to look out for A reputable asset manager, such as PIMCO, only uses social media platforms as a communication tool to provide information to clients. We will not use a social media platform to conduct business, recommend that investors use a specific distributor, or ask directly for money. In addition, a reputable asset manager will not make unsolicited cold calls or directly contact members of the public. Nor are members of staff permitted to make recommendations on any individual security. How to protect yourself Do not disclose any personal or financial information in response to unsolicited calls or messages. Do not open any files or attachments, or click on any links contained within unsolicited messages. If you want to check if a website address is genuine, then search for relevant key terms in your web browser or, if you know it, type the genuine URL into the address field. If you receive any suspicious call or messages purportedly originated from PIMCO or any other organization, then you should contact the organization via telephone to verify whether or not the communication is genuine. You may also want to alert the relevant authority if necessary.
What to look out for A reputable asset manager, such as PIMCO, only uses social media platforms as a communication tool to provide information to clients. We will not use a social media platform to conduct business, recommend that investors use a specific distributor, or ask directly for money. In addition, a reputable asset manager will not make unsolicited cold calls or directly contact members of the public. Nor are members of staff permitted to make recommendations on any individual security.
