While Obama fumes about the devastation caused by the oil leak and what he views as BP's inaction over cleaning up the slick, there's another danger lying in wait to threaten US citizens.

The US Securities & Exchange Commission is warning about a series of scams involving boiler room operations:

Some companies may issue press releases, or send unsolicited faxes or spam emails that might include:

• Claims to have products or technologies that are effective in remediating oil spills or restoring the eco-system
• Mention of contracts or expected contracts with BP, formerly British Petroleum, that will aid the cleanup effort
• Claims that the company is providing technical assistance or expertise to BP or to U.S. government agencies such as the Coast Guard or the Environmental Protection Agency
• Predictions of rapid, exponential sales growth
• Pressure to invest immediately

So it's good to see that US scammers aren't prepared to let a good disaster go to waste.  Compare their rancid activities to BP's honest (if so far futile) attempts to make good the damage caused.

Also, it's interesting to note the SEC referring to BP as 'formerly British Petroleum'.  The company renamed formally in 2001.  Had it adopted another name, say "Kevin PLC", would the SEC still feel obliged to remind us of its former name? I don't think so.  This is just another example of Brit-bashing.  The premium securities regulator in the world really should behave better than this... shame on them.

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Filed under: Capital markets, Current issues with tags bp, fraud, sec