Study: A third of Romanians have suffered financial losses after following unverified advice online 

A third of Romanians have suffered financial losses after following unverified advice online, and 7 out of 10 Romanians feel confident in their ability to distinguish credible financial information online, according to a study conducted for Revolut.On the occasion of World Savings Day, on October 31, global digital bank Revolut conducted a study together with research company Dynata, on the extent to which Romanians rely on online advice and consultants to grow their money. The survey highlighted their attitude towards savings and investments, what their biggest fears are when it comes to online financial recommendations and whether they have suffered losses after following advice from non-experts. The survey was conducted on a sample of 1,000 respondents, representative of the adult population in Romania.According to the cited source, almost 60% of survey respondents admitted to making financial decisions without checking with a professional or trusted source. 26% of respondents do this occasionally, 11% frequently and 21% rarely. 42% of survey participants said they never follow online recommendations.Women are more cautious when it comes to trusting online financial advisors, and 47% of them never follow this type of advice without verification, compared to 37% of men.Also, 36% of young people (18-34 years old) mentioned that they occasionally use this type of recommendations with the hope of increasing their funds. Older generations, on the contrary, do not seek out and never use online financial advice as inspiration for saving money or investing (63%).For 45% of Romanian respondents, the main barrier to following online recommendations is the fear of scams. Other significant concerns among the surveyed group include pump and dump schemes (24%), Ponzi schemes (22%) and exaggerated or misleading claims (17%).The 25-34 age group is most afraid of fraud (54%) and Ponzi schemes (29%), while older consumers (over 65) are held back by pump and dump schemes (33%).According to the study, 28% said they had lost a certain amount of money, with the highest proportion among those who lost up to 1,000 euros (16%).When it comes to financial advice, one in five respondents have followed online recommendations without negative results. In contrast, one in four have never used advice from unknown online sources. In addition, 22% said they have never invested, traded or sought financial advice.There are, however, differences between the approaches of the two genders. Men show a greater inclination towards risk and 32% of them admit to having followed online financial recommendations that led to a loss, although the majority (20%) have recorded losses that they consider minor, under 1,000 euros.A significant majority of the total sample (69%) is confident in their ability to distinguish between credible and fraudulent financial advice online. However, moderate levels of confidence are most common. The largest segment of respondents (50%) stated that they are 'somewhat confident' in their ability to discern financial advice. 25% of respondents indicate that they are 'not very confident' or 'not at all confident' in distinguishing financial advice.Men (74%) are more confident than women (65%) in their ability to distinguish between credible and fraudulent financial advice online, while women score higher than men on their self-confidence in their own ability to spot such cases (14%).The study was conducted in June 2025, in collaboration with the research company Dynata, on a representative sample of the Romanian population of over 1,000 people, over 18 years of age.Revolut Bank UAB is a licensed European bank, headquartered in Lithuania, authorized and supervised by the Bank of Lithuania and the European Central Bank (ECB).