The Alberta Securities Commission has launched its new “Check First” investor protection campaign encouraging Alberta investors to do their homework before they invest.

The campaign focuses on the impacts of an unsafe investment and reminds investors that the ASC is available as an impartial resource for researching an investment opportunity.

The campaign follows a recent investor study that shows that one in 20 Canadians has been a victim of fraud and two in five have been approached with a fraudulent investment.

“What’s clear from the study is an unsafe investment can happen to anyone, and when it does, the results can be devastating,” says ASC Executive Director David Linder. “Investors need to ask the right questions before they part with their hard-earned money and the ASC has tools and resources to help them check first.”

The “Check First” campaign includes a series of TV and newspaper ads that run province-wide in October and November. The ads are aimed at a pre-retiree audience in both rural and urban Alberta.

“Without the proper research, investors are open to fraud or an unsuitable investment that can be difficult to recover from,” says Linder. “We encourage investors to learn more about the red flags of fraud and better understand their risk tolerance through our new website tools before they invest.”