You knew this before you read this: if it's too good to be true.... Here's how it starts: you get an unsolicited telephone call from a speaker who has inside information and you have to act quickly. If you don't hang up then you probably were pitched a commodity investment fraud. Hot button words are deferred delivery, fixed maturity, cash forward, act quickly, high rates of return. You can read more about this from the North American Securities Administrators Association, and the alerts posted by the National Futures Association and the Coalition of Better Business Bureaus. Most of the major stock brokerage firms keep track of commodity investment fraud scams and your stockbroker can alert you to them. Commodities are traded in future contracts that are standardized and traded through legitimate exchanges. They are high risk high leveraged transactions which offer high returns but often are disappointments.

If you have been the victim of a commodity investment fraud from licensed commodity futures trading advisor or commodities trading firm the chances are you can begin arbitration and you will prevail. These types of investment scams become more prevalent during market lulls, when returns and securities are uninspiring, and when you're looking for returns higher than traditional conservative investments yield. Remember, the sun shines every day, but not every day is a beach day.

I suggest you start by looking at the Commodities Futures Trading Commission website for alerts, tools and resources. If you have been involved as an investor in a commodities fraud and you were introduced to the investment vehicle by your financial advisor; arbitration may be the appropriate venue for your recovery. Get a start at this by looking over the 39 CFTC filed actions with investor losses in excess of $110 million dollars. Sadly most of these investment opportunities were presented by friends of acquaintances who exploit their personal relationships to gain the trust and confidence of investors. The CFTC and the NFA has a telephone number: 800-676-4632 four disciplinary proceedings against registered commodity sellers.