Talk about adding insult to injury.
A bogus Web site is targeting victims of Bernard Madoff’s record Ponzi scheme in an apparent identity-theft scam, the Securities Investor Protection Corp warned today.
The site claims that $1.3 billion in Madoff money was recently found hidden in Malaysia, and displays photos of huge stacks of cash allegedly stashed by the mega-crook.
The so-called “International Securities Investor Protection Corporation” urges burned investors to submit claims by filling out an online form and mailing in a copy of “your most recent brokerage account statement.”
Did you fall victim to the fake SIPC site? E-mail The Post.
Its site — which rips off design elements of the real SIPC site — includes a phony quote from Madoff bankruptcy trustee Irving Picard, who is in charge of doling out the fraudster’s remaining funds.
The site also touts a claim from a purported Madoff investor who claims he received a “$500,000 SIPC wire transfer, which he used to pay off his house.”
The shady group claims to be based in Geneva, with ties to the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund.
SIPC President Stephen Harbeck said authorities would use “every available means to shut down this illicit operation.
“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 US,” Harbeck 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.”