An X user’s post explaining why he refused to lend ₹15 lakh to a friend who lost money in the stock market has gone viral, sparking debate online about the risks of following unverified investment advice.
Taking to X, the man wrote that his old friend called him asking to borrow ₹15 lakh. “I got shocked as it’s a big amount,” he said, adding that he asked for the reason. The friend revealed that he had broken his fixed deposit (FD) and sold a piece of land earlier this year to invest in the stock market after a YouTuber claimed that equities yield higher returns than traditional investments like FDs or property.
“The FD was done by his father for the marriage of his sister,” he wrote, adding that the friend’s investments are now down by 8%. Despite the losses, the friend refused to sell his holdings, saying the YouTuber had replied to one of his comments, reassuring him that “the market will recover soon.”
Criticising the trend of blindly trusting online influencers for financial advice, the X user said, “The YouTubers sold him a dream just for petty ad revenue”. “This is why I always advise people to never invest for the long term if you can’t forget the money for at least 5 years,” he wrote.
The X user also explained why he chose not to help his friend financially. “I respectfully denied to lend him money and told him to sell his stock market investments on a loss,” he wrote. “It’s your mistake that you are greedy, not mine. So suffer the consequence of listening to half-knowledge YouTubers. I don’t think he’ll ever talk to me again, but at least now these YouTubers will have one less person to misguide,” he added.
Social media reactions
The post has drawn widespread reactions, with many users agreeing with the X user.
“He will hate you. He probably would have still hated you when you asked for your money back later. At least you still have your money now,” one user commented.
“There are millions who have fallen into this trap, now sitting on losses and not knowing what to do,” said another.
“This same thing happened to me yesterday. A friend called and asked for ₹4 lakh. Same story – just that in my case, it wasn’t a YouTuber, it was another friend,” shared a third user.