TL;DR
A coordinated pump-and-dump scheme on Reddit lured unsuspecting investors with promises of quick riches. The result: Many lost their savings, highlighting the dangers of unregulated online investment hype.
Story
They promised riches, whispered of “$10 soon.” But the Reddit thread, filled with boasts of quick gains and screenshots of (likely manipulated) charts, was a digital casino. This wasn’t a legitimate investment; it was a pump-and-dump scheme, a classic case of manufactured hype masking a likely scam.
It worked like this: A group coordinated to buy up a cheap penny stock, driving the price higher through artificial demand. They used online forums like Reddit to spread the word, attracting naive investors with promises of easy money and FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out).¹ Then, when the price hit a certain point, the organizers dumped their shares, leaving latecomers holding the bag.
John, a retiree hoping to boost his savings, poured his life savings into this “sure thing.” His story, like countless others, is a cautionary tale. The screenshots of “169% gains” were likely cherry-picked; the true picture—one of many losing big—was hidden by curated posts. The promises of “$82” and “$50” vanished into thin air as the price plummeted.
This isn’t the first time manufactured hype collapsed: Think of the 2008 financial crisis, where complicated investments disguised risky behavior, or Enron’s deceptive accounting practices. The mechanics are different, but the human cost—the ruined retirement, the lost family savings—remains the same.
The red flags were everywhere: Unrealistic return promises, an anonymous group pushing a specific stock, and overwhelmingly positive comments in the online thread. Investors who blindly trust such schemes are victims of their own greed. This is precisely how fraudulent schemes thrive, preying on the human desire for quick riches.
In the end, the Reddit thread became a graveyard of dreams. This isn’t about “getting started.” It’s about getting scammed. The “$10” dreams turned to dust; only the orchestrators likely walked away with a profit.
¹FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out): The anxiety you feel when you believe others are having rewarding experiences that you are missing out on.
Advice
Never invest in something you don’t understand. Ignore promises of guaranteed high returns—they’re almost always scams.
Source
https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/1m2mdax/open_just_getting_started/