Australian Investors Caught in $2.4M Tesla Stock Scam

With new vehicles and products on the way, the EV maker is still a place that many people want to invest their money. Unfortunately, the desire to reap dividends from Tesla's success is causing some folks in Australia to lose their savings thanks to the dastardly acts of some online fraudsters.

Larosa Holdings is under investigation by the consumer protection agency and police in the state of Western Australia for allegedly taking over 2.4 million Australian dollars ($1.78 million US) from investors across the country. Among the cases sparking the authorities' interest was a couple attempting to invest in Tesla in February 2015. They found Larosa online, and the business eventually took $45,000 ($33,400) from them to put into the EV maker. However, the couple never received any notification of the stock purchase.

"We need to urgently warn would-be investors to be aware that this website and the company behind it, Larosa Group, appear to be an elaborate fabrication to deceive and defraud investors whose money is likely to be lost," Consumer Protection Commissioner Anne Driscoll said in an announcement by the agency.

Larosa claimed to be located in Dubai and Canada, but Australian investigators found the company wasn't registered with Dubai Financial Services Authority. The images on its site were also ripped from other places online. Tesla declined to comment on the matter to AutoblogGreen.