The bulky archive of false announcements on the pink sheets market was enriched by another mocked-up story only two days ago. The author of the affair was supposedly Auctions International, Inc. (PINK:AUCI). The OTC Markets, a company named Car Help USA, and some innocent investors were the other personages in the scenario.
The role of OTC boiled down to noticing the fiction in the press release published by AUCI, and consequently awarding the company with the caveat emptor sign. This provided a clear signal to investors that any undertaking about AUCI will bear an excessive risk.[BANNER]
The story started on Feb. 03, when it was announced that Car Help USA, LLC would buyout all of AUCI’s outstanding shares at a a price 50 times higher than the current market value. The watchdogs of iHub, however, immediately smelled a rat about the announced deal. A poster on iHub said that the PR was a fake, after which another poster provided a back-up to this allegation. Further research on Car Help USA showed that the company was involved in a car re-financing scam.
In response to the commotion created by the suspicious press release, the management of AUCI provided a different version of the affair. Dr. Newman, a creditor of AUCI, said that the company itself had nothing in common with the last announcement and that it was probably released by third parties who had special interest in pumping the stock. The perpetrators of the pump and dump scheme had created a fake account of AUCI on Market Wire, through which they had send out their mocked-up story.
