PETALING JAYA: The rise of financial influencers in Malaysia has drawn many eager learners to their online content or classes, but some attendees warn against blindly following their advice.
Former students of the influencers, or “finfluencers”, have urged the public to be discerning, saying that misleading or incomplete guidance could lead to financial losses.
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A former student of a finfluencer who only wanted to be known as Sam claimed he was driven to invest thousands of ringgit after closely following a popular creator who provided tips on investment and trading.
In 2020, Sam, 33, was retrenched from his full-time job. Having just welcomed his firstborn child, he was desperate to find other sources of income for his family.
He initially wanted to start an online business and was searching for ideas on social media.
Then his account feed began to display posts from local financial influencers.
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The posts piqued his interest in topics such as financial management and financial trading, and he followed an influencer who offered advice on investing money through online trading.
Sam subscribed to the influencer’s Telegram channel and was added to the group after paying between RM50 and RM100.
“At first, I felt really confident to trade because I was beginning to understand how it worked, and the creator was supportive in sharing more tips with us.
“Of course, investing comes with its own set of challenges. I did lose a lot of money, and I wish I had not relied too much on one person just because I felt supported.
“I hope others will bear this in mind when following advice from influencers,” he said.
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Another follower, Rick, said he paid around RM200 to attend two classes to learn about trading.
Before joining the classes, he weighed the pros and cons and did his research, such as checking if the influencer had a proper licence and real experience in offering financial advice, he said.
“I was recommended to the financial expert by my friends, so I decided to try and learn about short-term and long-term investments for people like me who wanted a more profitable side income.
“It helps when you read and research (material) from verified sources first so that you’ll have the basic knowledge when entering classes organised by these influencers,” he said.
