How to Protect Your Finances from Disinformation

Americans are besieged by misinformation and disinformation. Produced by individuals, corporations, and state actors around the world, and often distributed via social media, much of it – at the moment – is political in nature. (Misinformation is inaccurate information and disinformation is false information intended to deceive.)

“Two weeks before this year’s vote… the torrent of half-truths, lies and fabrications, both foreign and homegrown, has exceeded anything that came before, according to officials and researchers who document disinformation,” reported the New York Times. And Fox News warns that “these campaigns are now powered by AI tools, making it very easy for bad actors to churn out misleading information at lightning speed and on a huge scale.”

But there’s plenty of disinformation circulating online related to other topics, too, including financial ones. In fact, 41% of Gen Z investors, who are likely to be spending massive amounts of time online, have made investment moves based on financial information they saw on the Internet or social media that turned out to be misleading or factually incorrect, according to research by Nationwide.

Though the Internet can be a great place to explore and learn, it’s important to turn to credible sources for information – especially when it’s related to your money. Acting on guidance from an unvetted individual or organization, anonymous or not, could put your savings or investment portfolio at risk.

So what? There’s lots of high-quality guidance available from credible financial advisors and money managers in the real world and online. (SoFi offers a no cost consultation with credentialed financial planners, which takes the risks of disinformation out of the equation.) For most of us, investing decisions should be made only after rigorous research and analysis or with the guidance of a trusted professional.

Photo Credit: iStock/VioletaStoimenova

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