As if the poor folks ruined by convicted Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff don’t have enough problems, a new phishing scam is hoping they’ll bite one more time.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is alerting investors about a phony web site that falsely claims to have recovered $1.3 billion in funds hidden by Madoff in Malaysia.

The site claims to be home to the non-existent "International Security Investor Protection Corporation" and bears a convincing likeness to the Securities Investor Protection Corporation's (the entity formed by the U.S. Congress to assist customers of insolvent brokerage firms) own web site, mimicking its look, feel, and content.  

By James Havers, Sympatico / MSN Finance

Tour operator Conquest Vacations Inc. has announced the cessation of its operations effective immediately.

In a posting on its website, the company says customers who booked and paid using cash or cheque should contact their travel agency with respect to a refund or claim. Customers who booked directly with Conquest should email directcustomers@conquestvacations.com with a booking reference number.

By Dawn Cuthbertson, Sympatico / MSN Finance

I've always wondered what Wall and Bay Street bankers did with their multi-million dollar salaries.

I envision secret vaults in their homes bursting with mountains of crisp dollar bills. Or private jets whisking them away to exotic places like Bora Bora for the weekend

Then I read an article in the NY Times and my bubble burst.

By Deirdre McMurdy, Sympatico / MSN Finance

The federal broadcast regulator has launched extensive hearings that explore whether the internet has become another channel for broadcasting and need to have its own Canadian content rules and other guidelines for its future evolution.

It all sounds sufficiently high concept and non-threatening, but for consumers - specifically the millions of cable customers in Canada - this process has a potentially pricey outcome: if a tax is imposed on cable companies to help pay for the production of new Canadian content, that will almost certainly be passed along to end users. That means internet access will become more expensive at a time when few households are able to pay more for anything.

Deirdre McMurdy, Sympatico / MSN Finance

One of the more startling lessons of life in Ottawa is how often it turns out that seemingly-small, bureaucratic points have remarkable consumer resonance.

By James Havers, Sympatico / MSN Finance

What do Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax, actor Kevin Bacon and Larry Silverstein, the developer of the World Trade Center, have in common?

They all appear on a list of clients who lost money investing with embattled Wall Street kingpin Bernie Madoff, and made public in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court filing in Manhattan on Wednesday.

By Deirdre McMurdy, Sympatico / MSN Finance

Well played, General Motors.

Taking a page from the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen, the cash-strapped automaker has done the 21st Century equivalent of crying wolf. And the timing of its subtle suggestion that it may have to close its operations in Canada could not have a more compelling backdrop.

Here's the thread: GM maintains that if it doesn't get the bailouts it needs, it may not be able to sustain its presence - and about 12,000 jobs - in Canada. To even qualify for consideration for a bailout, it needs to get its labor costs down.

By Deirdre McMurdy, Sympatico / MSN Finance

It's standard procedure - especially during hard times - for politicians and consumer groups to bash Big Banks. After all, all that profit made from all those ATM fees warrants some kind of backlash, right?

The only thing tougher for bankers, who allegedly have very thick hides, is when one of their own turns on them. And arguably, that's what RBC chief executive officer, Gord Nixon, has just gone and done: he's slashed his own pay on top of accepting a 30 per cent reduction in his cash compensation following a 17 per cent drop in the bank's profit.

By Deirdre McMurdy, Sympatico / MSN Finance

There's been an awful lot of clatter about the recently-released Expert Panel on Securities Regulation, the latest federal push to get a single securities regulator in place.

By Deirdre McMurdy, Sympatico / MSN Finance

One of the biggest challenges for business leaders these days is to stay engaged and closely attuned to what's going on outside their immediate circle. It's human instinct, after all, to turn inward during times of trouble and to focus on the urgent matters at hand.

The perils of succumbing to that, however, are splashed all over the front page: chartered banks, which have no shortage of their own concerns, are coming under fire for being self-absorbed. Given the potentially steep cost of grassroots backlash against them, it might be a good idea for the bank chairs to listen up.