Financial tips from influencers are so risky

Tempting promise

Consumer advocates warn of these financial tips

On TikK and Instagram, influencers promise fast wealth with ETFs or crypto. But many offers are risky – and in the worst case, they lose their money. How to protect yourself from dubious financial advertising.

Those who move on social media today can hardly avoid financial tips. Videos suddenly appear between fitness reels and travel vlogs in which young people advertise the next crypto hype or the supposedly tax-free investment in ETFs. They look authentic, successful and promise: earn a lot with little effort.

But behind these offers there are often products that do not hold what they predict – or even be dangerous. Especially for beginners who have little experience with investments, there are great risks here.

The Hamburg Consumer Center is therefore urgently warning of such financial advertising on platforms such as Instagram, Tiktok or Facebook. In the worst case, those who can be blinded risk the total loss of their investment. The good news: If you know the mechanisms, you can protect yourself and make better decisions.

Social media platforms are no longer just places of entertainment. They have developed into advertising markets – also for financial products. Anyone who posts content there does not have to have any approval as a financial advisor, say consumer advocates. This makes it easy to draw attention to dubious providers to draw attention to themselves with full -bodied promises.

Particularly problematic: the algorithms prefer content that emotionalize and simply sound – not necessarily those that are well -founded or serious.

Big return, great risk: “Large returns usually go hand in hand with great risks,” says Sandra Klug from the consumer center Hamburg. But in many articles on social media it sounds as if you can quickly earn a lot of money with little use – without any risk. In truth, there are often high-risk financial products behind such promises, such as questionable crypto investments or complicated control models with ETFs.

Example Rürup pension: A particularly popular sales argument: Save taxes with ETFs. What many do not know: As a rule, this is only possible via a so-called basic pension-also called Rürup pension. However, according to consumer advocates, this form of retirement provision has decisive disadvantages:

Not every offer on social media is automatically bad, according to the financial experts at the consumer advice center. But there are warning signs that you should pay attention to:

Consumer advocates also advise whether there is approval from the financial supervision (BaFin). It is best to research the provider on the Internet. Independent advice is particularly useful if you have little experience with investments. Contact serious places that do not sell their own products – for example to consumer advice centers, honorary consultants or non -profit organizations such as the “Foundation Finance”.

There you get a well -founded assessment of your situation, get to know different forms of investment and get help with the selection of suitable strategies. This is how they avoid expensive wrong decisions – and gain security in dealing with their money.