Founded in 1919, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) is the oldest international investor protection organization. NASAA’s primary goal is to advocate and act for the protection of investors, especially those who lack the expertise, experience and resources to protect their own interests.1
The organization released their 2025 Enforcement Report in October.
The report contains useful information to guide investors in recognizing fraudulent investment offerings.
The report detailed that in 2024 state securities regulators conducted 8,833 active investigations and initiated 1,183 enforcement actions leading to more than $259 million in monetary fines and restitution as well as criminal prosecutions, probation and deferred adjudication.2
State securities regulators received the majority of referrals from FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority), as well as state and local law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies and the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).
Senior investor vulnerability was highlighted in the report which revealed that in 2024 there were over 3,500 complaints of alleged financial misconduct targeting older investors. “The top products and schemes in investigations involving senior victims were digital assets (151), pig butchering (91), stocks and similar equities (75), social media fraud (69), and promissory notes (51).”3
A pig butchering scam, derived from the idea of fattening an animal before it is killed, is when a thief works over months or years to build a relationship with the victim and then exploits the relationship for financial gain.4
The problem of investors making investments with unregistered firms and unregistered individuals was also highlighted in the report. Regulators opened 345 investigations involving unregistered firms and 944 involving unregistered individuals according to the report. This highlights the importance of investors checking whether those individuals and firms asking for their investments are legitimate.
A check can easily be accomplished by going to FINRA’s Broker Check website: click here 5.
The good news is that the same technology, such as artificial intelligence, which is fueling a rise in fraudulent investment offerings is also being used to root out investment fraud schemes and stop them.
Agencies are engaged in working with domain providers to shut down fraudulent websites and are “working with blockchain analytics firms and digital asset exchange platforms to trace and seize assets obtain through fraud.”6
Securities Law Firm Protecting Investors in Royal Oak
The Law Offices of Peter C. Rageas helps investors pursue claims involving broker misconduct, unsuitable investments, fraud, and other securities-related losses. If you believe you were misled or treated unfairly, our Royal Oak securities law firm can review your situation and explain your options for moving forward.
________________________
1 About NASAA
Link: https://www.nasaa.org/about/
2, 3 NASAA Releases 2025 Enforcement Report, 10/16/2025
Link: https://www.nasaa.org/77718/nasaa-releases-2025-enforcement-report/
4 The Pig Butchering Scam Explained by Paul Frew and Gene Petrino, 10/27/2025
Link: https://www.security.org/digital-safety/scams/pig-butchering/
5 Broker Check by FINRA
Link: https://brokercheck.finra.org/
6 NASAA Enforcement Report: 2025 Edition
Link: https://www.nasaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/2025-NASAA-Enforcement-Report_FINAL.pdf