Pharmaceutical tablets and capsules in foil strips are arranged on a table in this picture illustration taken in Ljubljana September 18, 2013. Picture taken September 18. REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic
Pharmaceutical tablets and capsules in foil strips are arranged on a table in this picture illustration taken in Ljubljana September 18, 2013. Picture taken September 18. REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has warned investors of stock scams connected to Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Regulators have suspended four publicly traded companies for their involvement in the stock scams.

The SEC suspended the stock market trading of Bravo Enterprises Ltd from New York, Immunotech Laboratories Inc and Wholehealth Products Inc from California, and Myriad Internactive Media Inc from Canada, according to Reuters. The SEC said the companies claimed they have products that can prevent or treat the deadly Ebola virus. It warned that the "con artists" may be attempting to solicit money from investors and claiming to be developing Ebola drugs.

It was previously reported in October that Immunotech had hoped to sell an experimental drug to treat Ebola in Africa. The company's stock surged to more than 28 million shares on Oct. 21 unlike its normal daily volume average above 223,000. Website development company Myriad Interactive announced in October that it was planning to create an Ebola tracking system to alert residents in Western countries in case the virus had spread. On Oct 15, the company's announcement spurred nearly 16 million shares to change hands compared to its daily average of 180,000 shares.

U.S. regulators had observed unusually high trading volumes for the shares of Bravo Enterprises and Whole Health. In Aug. 27, the company's news release said it can provide equipment to develop or create an alternative water supply for the people of Liberia and others in Ebola-affected countries. Bravo's May Joan Liu came to the defence of the press release and said the company had pointed out that water is the "top priority in the Ebola outbreak."

The U.S. SEC has intensified efforts to prosecute microcap fraud and formed a new task force. The regulatory agency issues investor alerts from time to time as a warning against stock scams as investors become more interested in companies that play a role in developing Ebola drugs.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has taken the lives of 5,400 people mostly in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. The World Health Organisation has earlier declared the current outbreak as the worst on record.