In a normal context, the phrase “My husband and I work for JPMorgan” might be merely a not-so-subtle flex.
But lately on Threads, it seems more like a telltale sign that the user is in fact a bot.
Users on Meta’s short-form social network have recently noticed a barrage of strange recurring posts, all following a template that begins with phrases like “My husband and I” or “My wife and I,” followed by claims to work for companies like Exxon, Fidelity, IBM, and many others.
Below the post, investment advice follows the phrase “I’m only going to say this once,” with a list of various tickers and instructions, such as “Don’t buy” or “Buy at” pasted below.
In one case, a post read, “My husband and I are both analysts at PepsiCo, I’ll only say this once. My advice for September 20th is: cancel your plans and stay home.”
A similar post simply switched the company and date: “My husband and I are both analysts at Expedia Group. I’ll only say this once. My advice for October 20th is cancel your plans and stay home.”
But in both cases, the investment advice was the same: eight tickers listed in the same order, each with a purchase instruction by its side.
- $TSLA (Tesla) — Don’t buy
- $PLTR (Palantir) — Don’t buy
- $ARM (Arm) — Don’t buy
- $NVDA (Nvidia) — Buy at $223-$225
- $AMZN (Amazon) — Buy at $265-$267
- $AVGO (Broadcom) — Buy at $415-$417
- $SOFI (SoFi) — Buy at $17-$18
- $RKLB (Rocket Lab) — Buy at $80-$81″
One of the posts also included a screenshot of what looks like a Wells Fargo account dashboard, listing the balance at $32.5 million as apparent proof of the user’s financial success.
Many of the other posts share similar screenshots from various banks, all with account balances at around the $30 million mark.
What’s going on with these posts?
The bizarre posts are easy to find on Threads by simply searching for “My husband and I,” with dozens of posts surfacing from minutes, to days, to even weeks earlier.
The phenomenon seems to be unique to Threads, as such posts are not widespread on apps like Bluesky and X, based on a cursory search conducted by Fast Company on Friday.
“We fight fraud and scams because people on our platforms don’t want this content, legitimate advertisers don’t want it, and we don’t want it either,” Meta spokesperson Alex Dziedzan told Fast Company when reached for comment. “We are investigating these types of posts and will take action where necessary.”
Meanwhile, many users have taken to poking fun at the strange trend, assuming the posts are, indeed, generated by bots.
“My wife and I both work at the Wonka factory. I’m only going to say this once. My advice for February 31st is to cancel your plans and stay home,” a user said on Threads.
Another responded, “How can I take this seriously without a screenshot of your bank balance?”
But many others are speculating on the origins and intentions of the alleged bot messages, with some contending they’re likely meant to manipulate the stock market.
“It’s micro pushing of stocks,” one user said on Threads, speculating that the activity could be an attempt to game tools that use AI as part of their stock analyses. “I think the bot farms might have caught onto something. . . . The pattern might be extremely obvious to humans but not so to an AI.”