This paper investigates the effects of speculative-led attacks on volatility spillover through selected 20 stock markets over the period of January 03, 2013 and March 14, 2021, implementing a recently developed wavelet spectrum analysis. To assess the degree of speculation, the time scale of the study is divided into two parts as the pre-COVID-19 era and the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the potential effects of speculative-led attacks on stock markets are analyzed both through the income-based and region-based classifications. In that vein, the empirical results are built upon three parts. First, the volatility spillover is more common for the high-income economies than the rest of the other economies and it is much visible at the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, the regional differences of stock markets have also a crucial impact on the behaviors of financial investors in which the speculative-led attacks are intensified in the regions where the financial transactions are relatively much higher. Finally, the core reason behind the increase of speculative attacks in those stock markets is an ongoing stagnation in productive activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.