WASHINGTON – State securities regulators released a list of the "Top 10″ scams, risky investments or sales practice abuses they're fighting. New to the third annual list are unscrupulous brokers, conflicts of interest in analyst research, charitable gift annuities, and oil and natural gas scams. "Con artists know investors are concerned about the volatile stock market and low yields on bonds and bank deposits, so they pitch their scams as safe alternatives and promise high returns – an impossible combination," said president of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) and director of the Alabama Securities Commission. The top 10 investment scams, ranked in order of prevalence or seriousness: 1. Unlicensed individuals, such as independent insurance agents, selling securities; 2. Unscrupulous stockbrokers; 3. Analyst research conflicts; 4. Promissory notes; 5. "Prime bank" schemes; 6. Viatical settlements; 7. Affinity fraud; 8. Charitable gift annuities; 9. Oil and gas schemes; 10. Equipment leasing.