When scenarios like this happen, who actually loses money? Obviously some person/firm made a lot of money on this story, but there has to be an entity on the other side who also lost a lot right?
The buyers who bought it going up thinking it will keep going, or that the article was valid, are the losers. The price will fall back down once the article is proven to be fraud and those buyers just lost a good amount of basis points.
The ones who held the stock before hand and sold as it reached the peak are the winners.