Influencers have become a real mainstay of online culture, so much so that their followers often listen to their advice regardless of how legitimate or practical it might be. Hiring influencers for marketing has become quite popular because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up allowing businesses to increase their overall number of consumers and customers, but influencers are delving into quite a few other areas as well some of which might be rather unethical.
A common trend that has started emerging particularly over the last couple of years is that of Finfluencers, essentially influencers that offer financial advice and show off their wealthy and decadent lifestyles as some kind of proof that their advice is worth listening to. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that in Australia, offering advice with regards to what stocks people should buy can be a crime if you don’t have a license that entitles you to do so.
These influencers often claim that their stock tips are completely legitimate, but they also try to claim that there is no way that you can lose money by investing in their stocks. The thing is, it’s almost impossible to make such a statement without it being false because virtually any stock that you might want to put your money in has at least some small chance of depreciating at least in the short term even if it manages to bounce back in the long term with all things having been considered and taken into account.
Australian corporate watchdog ASIC has warned that these influencers might have to serve a bit of time in jail if they keep providing stock tips and other forms of financial advice regarding investments without obtaining a license before attempting to do so. People that follow influencers online can sometimes be rather gullible. This can often lead to them not fully realizing that their advice might not be something that they should take all that seriously without doing their own research first.
Read next: Is internet liberty a thing? Know about the most restricted country as well as the least restricted country in the world
A common trend that has started emerging particularly over the last couple of years is that of Finfluencers, essentially influencers that offer financial advice and show off their wealthy and decadent lifestyles as some kind of proof that their advice is worth listening to. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that in Australia, offering advice with regards to what stocks people should buy can be a crime if you don’t have a license that entitles you to do so.
These influencers often claim that their stock tips are completely legitimate, but they also try to claim that there is no way that you can lose money by investing in their stocks. The thing is, it’s almost impossible to make such a statement without it being false because virtually any stock that you might want to put your money in has at least some small chance of depreciating at least in the short term even if it manages to bounce back in the long term with all things having been considered and taken into account.
Australian corporate watchdog ASIC has warned that these influencers might have to serve a bit of time in jail if they keep providing stock tips and other forms of financial advice regarding investments without obtaining a license before attempting to do so. People that follow influencers online can sometimes be rather gullible. This can often lead to them not fully realizing that their advice might not be something that they should take all that seriously without doing their own research first.
Read next: Is internet liberty a thing? Know about the most restricted country as well as the least restricted country in the world
