What Investment Trends in Literature Reveal as One in Five Brits Fall Victim to Financial Scams

One in five people across the UK fall victim to a finance scam, such as a fake pension or investment opportunity. In the last year, nine million people have been affected by ‘scams’ disguised as ‘schemes’.¹

Looking at how these investment trends appear in research highlights the gaps we’re facing in awareness, and the real-world consequences for millions of people navigating today’s fast-moving financial markets.

With this in mind, the forex broker experts at Brokerchooser have analysed how often key financial terms have appeared in published work over the last five years, using Google Books and Scholar data. The results show a shift in investment culture where hype-driven trends such as social media are leading, and discussion around scams has declined, even as they dominate in the real world.

The results: the fastest-rising investment terms in literature

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Meme stocks lead with a 138% change

Meme stocks lead with a 138% increase in mentions over the past five years. Initially sparked by the GameStop and AMC phenomenon of 2021, they have become the face of a new investing era: viral, social-media-driven, and often unlinked from traditional company fundamentals. Studies suggest that meme stocks now make up a significant portion of retail trading, with estimates indicating they account for up to 22% of all retail trading activity,  compared to 10% in 2020, a dramatic rise compared to previous years, underscoring their growing influence on both markets and investor behaviour. ²

Traditional investing terms still matter, with ‘Dividend investing’ seeing a 26% increase

Even as hype-driven trends lead, traditional investing strategies continue to command attention. Mentions of ‘dividend investing’ have risen by 26%, while financial planning has grown 24%, signalling sustained interest in steady, income-focused strategies.

Forex ranks fourth, with an 18.3% increase, maintaining a regular presence in literature. While its prominence may be overshadowed by the rapid rise of digital assets and viral trading trends, its consistent mentions demonstrate that global, established markets remain crucial in financial discourse.

Cryptocurrency has a 15% increase over 5 years

Cryptocurrency remains a central topic in investment literature, but growth in mentions has moderated compared to the late 2010s. Mentions of cryptocurrency saw a 15.9% increase and Bitcoin a 11.5% rise, indicating a shift that crypto is no longer purely speculative, but is steadily entering financial discussion. Daily cryptocurrency trading now exceeds $100 billion globally, dwarfing forex retail flows in some regions.3 Bitcoin continues to be the dominant cryptocurrency, accounting for 56.48% of the total market capitalisation. The total market cap for the entire cryptocurrency market is near $4 trillion.4

The results: the investment terms dropping in literature

The decline in discussion around traditional investment risks might signal a worrying trend: the less these threats are written about and studied, the more normalised and potentially more dangerous they can become. More low-risk investment topics, such as wealth management (–9.3%) and savings accounts (–5.9%) have experienced a decline.

Mentions of pyramid schemes have fallen 21% in books and academic literature, yet their real-world prevalence shows no signs of decline. Many have simply rebranded as multi-level marketing (MLM) programs, which have seen a 1.5% rise in mentions over the past five years. Reports show that MLM cases, which have been reported to the FCA, have increased by 34% from 2021 to 2022.5. Similarly, Ponzi schemes (–1.5%) are cited less frequently in literature, despite their ongoing relevance in real-world fraud. This highlights a concerning trend: the less we write and educate about these risks, the more normalised they become.

This decline may expose a critical gap in public awareness, leaving new investors more vulnerable than ever. In 2023 alone, 66 Ponzi schemes were uncovered, a seven-year high and nearly double the number identified just two years earlier, resulting in almost $2 billion in potential investor losses – according to a blog dedicated to tracking Ponzi schemes worldwide 6

Balazs Faluvegi, senior analyst from Brokerchooser, comments on the findings:

“The investment world has shifted dramatically in recent years. Social media-fuelled trends such as meme stocks are shaping retail behaviour in ways we’ve never seen before, while traditional instruments and dividend strategies continue to quietly underpin steady growth. Investors today are balancing between chasing quick gains and relying on tried-and-tested methods.

At the same time, the landscape for financial fraud is evolving. Classic scams have taken on new forms. The total cryptocurrency market, now nearing $4 trillion in market capitalisation, has opened the door for both legitimate innovation and opportunistic fraud. This makes investor education more important than ever.

Understanding market dynamics, recognising hype versus fundamentals, and spotting potential risks is no longer optional; it’s essential for anyone navigating today’s fast-moving financial markets.”

[1] Citizen’s Advice | 9 million people caught out by financial scams in the past year

[2] LUISS | Meme Stocks are here to stay

[3] AI Invest | Bitcoin News

[4] Pintu | Cryptocurrency Mark September 2025

[5] FCA | Financial promotions 2022

[6] Ponzi Tracker | Ponzi schemes hit 7-year high

[7] The Defiant | Cryptocurrency tops 4 trillion

Methodology:

1. Brokerchooser used Google Ngrams (https://books.google.com/ngrams/) to analyse trends in financial terminology over the past five years, and track the frequency of key investment-related terms in published literature and books.

2. The dataset captures annual mentions of each term, allowing us to quantify changes in usage over time.

3. Note: Ngram records only extend through 2022; a timeframe of 2018-2022 was set.

4. Terms that were not widely in use at the start of the period, such as NFTs, were counted from their first significant appearance in literature (2020).

5. Percentage changes were calculated to identify which terms have increased or decreased in frequency, highlighting shifts in investment discussion, scholarly focus, and public interest.

6. This approach provides an understanding of evolving investor priorities and the prominence of different financial topics in both academic and general literature.

7. The data was collected in September 2025.

Please find the full dataset here.