Scottish Man Used Twitter TO Launch $1.6M Stock Market Scam

Discussion in 'The Cocktail Lounge' started by Rainman, Nov 6, 2015.

  1. Rainman

    Rainman Senior Investor

    Joined:
    Jun 2014
    Posts:
    1,587
    Likes Received:
    4
    A Scottish man has been charged with defrauding the U.S stock market. The man, James Craig, is accused of tweeting false news to make share prices fall. Later he would buy and sell the shares making a profit in the process. As a result of his tweets, shareholders, lost $1.6M.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-34742874
    Moral of the story? Get your news from trustworthy sources.
     
  2. Alex

    Alex Senior Investor

    Joined:
    Apr 2015
    Posts:
    634
    Likes Received:
    3
    There are scams everywhere and I think reputations mean more these days than ever before. The problem is that stocks and shares are based on rumors and I wonder if he used a fake account or not? He would have known he could have been traced, but is giving out a rumor illegal? They would have to prove intent and whether he would have profited, and if he actually did is the key

    I think it's not so easy to prove, because the onus is on the buyers to check their sources. It's like a newspaper printing a story and then people acting on it, is the paper responsible for their actions?
     
  3. pwarbi

    pwarbi Senior Investor

    Joined:
    May 2015
    Posts:
    1,028
    Likes Received:
    5
    I can't believe that people are stupid enough to buy and sell shares on the advice of somebody on a Twitter post. Surely they would have looked at multiple sources of information before selling anything?

    Well, clearly they didn't so hopefully that will be a lesson to everybody not to believe everything you read on the internet...if you didn't already know that by now...
     
  4. Susimi

    Susimi Senior Investor

    Joined:
    Sep 2015
    Posts:
    519
    Likes Received:
    1
    While I do not condone what the guy did you have to give him a little bit of credit for exploiting human stupidity. It also really shows how some people can be swayed by opinions that don't have a shred of fact to them.
     
  5. L_B

    L_B Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2015
    Posts:
    356
    Likes Received:
    2
    There are so many scams out there. You really have to be careful when it comes to investing your money. Most people are but these people know that there are others who would fall for anything. That is why there are scams. There are always people who will fall for them and loss their money. He was doing great until he go caught!
     
  6. JR Ewing

    JR Ewing Super Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 2014
    Posts:
    4,950
    Likes Received:
    39
    It's a crime to induce other people to trade based upon information you know to be false. Anyone doing this deserves to get in trouble if convicted.

    Yes, people are foolish to listen to those who are not reputable. But if it wasn't a crime to do this sort of thing, what would stop even reputable people and institutions from occasionally doing this as well?
     
  7. Susimi

    Susimi Senior Investor

    Joined:
    Sep 2015
    Posts:
    519
    Likes Received:
    1
    I kind of have a hard time in trying to reason with myself that it's just the guy who was in the wrong and not also the ones who were quick to change tack based on just one persons sayings, but I do think there needs to be some regulations and I completely agree qwith what you're saying.

    If this thing wasn't a crime the markets would look like a mountainous peak area what with all the spikes and stuff.
     
  8. Alex

    Alex Senior Investor

    Joined:
    Apr 2015
    Posts:
    634
    Likes Received:
    3
    Without seeing the details of the case it's hard to say too much, but if he was in his position misleading his clients then that is a breach. There are all the tales of insider trading and rumors that circulate and it's up to people to either believe them or not. Some act and others don't and if they do and it fails, it was their choice to act. Tweets depending how they are worded and where they came from (account and source) may have more of an effect than a rumor as it can be worldwide. We are venturing into a realm seeing how social media can be held as a platform now for news and now mere exchange of gossip or status updates.
     

Share This Page