Comparator Still Has Some Fans on the Internet

It’s been more than four months since touting on the Internet helped Comparator Systems Corp. stock set three trading records on the Nasdaq market and soar thirtyfold in value.

Since then, the company has been accused of fraud, delisted by Nasdaq, and watched its stock price plummet back to the pennies-per-share depths from whence it came.

But on the Internet, where some say a sucker signs on every minute, the debate over Comparator rages on. Message postings to bulletin boards and discussion groups picked up again last week as news spread that the company had escaped fines or major penalties in settling a lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“I am a person who is willing to take a chance in the company,” said one message posted to an America Online stock discussion group. “Looking to grab a quick buck.”

There are some signs, however, that online chat devotees are losing patience with tireless Comparator boosters, who refer to the company by its ticker symbol, IDID. “Leave this site to legitimate investment ideas,” said one recent posting to the misc.invest.stocks newsgroup. “Please move your IDID crap to misc.playground.losers.”

Comparator, a Newport Beach maker of fingerprint identification systems, was accused of lying about its financial base, stealing its technology, and cheating investors by selling hundreds of millions of shares of virtually worthless stock.

The stock is still worthless, according to the SEC, which said last week that the company didn’t even have enough money to pay a fine. But Comparator stock is still trading in private, off-market transactions for about 5 cents per share. With 610 million shares outstanding, that means investors value the company at about $30 million.