I don't know if you guys have heard about this one, but it happened a couple of years ago.

I was shorting a company (gv) and there was this pumper. This guy had inside information from a company named Gold Summit that knew that this company was going to go down the tubes. They had a lot of longs that had to get out. They manipulated this stock. They gave inside information regarding this stock to a message board poster named Luckytrocal. He pumped this stock and had people believing that it should be bought. All the while Gold Summit had their customers selling it off as well as the stock they had put aside in off shore numbered companies in the Caribbean. If they has just sold it without the pumpers, especially Lucky, the amount of shares flooding the market would have depressed the price per share to its rightful level. He did this for over 2 years, getting paid $1,250 per week. Lucky could do it because he was young and found it hard to find work. After Gold Summit got all their shares and their customers shares out, they shorted this son of gun. It went down 70%. I found out about Lucky, who is now on the volunteer BOD of a small town California port authority. Look out for other Lucky(s) because if they are around, and you are long, you won't be lucky you'll be fuceed.