WASHINGTON, Dec. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- NASD issued an Investor Alert today
warning investors to be wary of unsolicited faxes, spam and even text messages
promising large market gains for investments that purport to capitalize on
helping protect against global pandemics like the Bird Flu or Avian Influenza.

    NASD's Investor Alert, Bird Flu Stock Scam Could Be Hazardous To Your
Financial Health, explains how investors can spot and protect themselves from
investment scams involving companies that claim to have products and services
that fight the Bird Flu. One example includes a fax stating a company "has the
solution for tracking and containing the Bird Flu virus." Citing the enormous
cost of fighting the Bird Flu, the fax claimed the stock was "positioned to
gain 250% or more Short-Term." The fax went on to urge investors not to miss
out on a stock that was "clearly missed by Wall Street."

"This is an age-old pump-and-dump scheme with a brand new disguise," said
NASD Vice President of Investor Education John Gannon. "Unfortunately,
fraudsters are quick to exploit every new crisis or catastrophe to peddle
their get-rich-quick scams to unsuspecting investors."

    The Alert warns investors not to rely solely on the information in
unsolicited faxes, e-mails or text messages because they often come from
corporate insiders who are paid to promote the stock. Investors are advised to
further investigate when unsolicited messages include predictions of
exponential growth and exaggerated claims of how a possible bird flu outbreak
would contribute directly to the company's bottom line.

    For additional resources related to this topic, see NASD's Investor
Alerts: Beware of "Hot" Stock Tips on Your Cell Phone; Beware of Stock Fraud
in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina; and Stock Spams and Scams. To receive NASD's
latest Investor Alerts and other important investor information via email,
sign up for NASD's Investor News.

    NASD is the leading private-sector provider of financial regulatory
services, dedicated to bringing integrity to the markets and confidence to
investors through effective and efficient regulation and complementary
compliance and technology-based services. NASD offers a broad range of tools
and programs to help people better understand investing and know how to
protect themselves along the way -- including developing and publishing
Investor Alerts, brochures and online resource guides on such critical topics
as mutual fund class shares and 401(k) and college savings plans. NASD has
distributed this information through its Web site, printed materials and
Investor Forums.

    NASD touches virtually every aspect of the securities business -- from
registering and educating all industry participants, to examining securities
firms, enforcing both NASD rules and the federal securities laws, and
administering the largest dispute resolution forum for investors and
registered firms. For more information, please visit our Web site at
http://www.nasd.com.