Home » Finance » 15 Viral Side Hustles That Are Actually Scams (TikTok Won’t Tell You)

Finance

15 Viral Side Hustles That Are Actually Scams (TikTok Won’t Tell You)

Kerri Foley

November 7, 2025

38 Views

SaveSavedRemoved 0

A late-night scroll through TikTok’s “For You Page” often presents a tantalizing vision of modern success. A 22-year-old, filming from a minimalist, sun-drenched apartment, explains how they quit their soul-crushing 9-to-5 job.

The secret? A simple side hustle—one that’s supposedly accessible to anyone with a smartphone and ambition. This is the modern-day siren song of financial freedom, a powerful narrative promising an escape from economic precarity through digital entrepreneurship.

This narrative, however, often conceals a far darker reality. The digital landscape is not just a field of opportunity; it is a minefield of sophisticated deception. According to new data from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), consumers lost a record-breaking $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, a staggering 25% increase from the previous year.

The Viral Scam Matrix

The “Get-Rich-Quick” Illusions: Schemes Demanding Your Cash Upfront

This category of scams is the most direct, preying on the desire for immediate and substantial returns.

They often involve financial products or “opportunities” that require an upfront cash investment, which becomes the primary target for the fraudster.

1. Master Resell Rights (MRR): The Pyramid Scheme in a Digital Disguise

At its core, MRR is a licensing arrangement that allows a purchaser to resell a product and, crucially, pass on those same resell rights to their customers. However, the business model’s mechanics reveal a structure that closely mirrors an illegal pyramid scheme.

The primary product being sold is not the content of the digital course—which is often of questionable quality—but the “opportunity” to resell the course itself. Consequently, the only viable path to recouping one’s initial investment and turning a profit is to recruit others into the same scheme.   

This model is inherently unsustainable due to market saturation. As each new buyer becomes a new seller of the identical product, the potential customer pool for subsequent entrants diminishes exponentially.

Eventually, the market becomes so flooded that new sellers are unable to make any sales, and the structure collapses for everyone except the originators and the earliest adopters. This is not a failure of individual effort but a mathematical certainty built into the model’s design.

The structure of MRR—where income is derived almost exclusively from recruiting others to sell the same opportunity—aligns with the FTC’s definition of a product-based pyramid scheme, which prioritizes recruitment over genuine retail sales to the public.

2. Fake “Guru” Online Courses: Selling the Dream, Delivering Debt

The marketing funnel for a fake “guru” is a masterclass in psychological manipulation. It begins with a flashy social media ad—a charismatic individual standing in front of a rented Lamborghini or a luxurious Airbnb—promising to reveal the “secret” to making $10,000 a month through a specific hustle like AI, Amazon FBA, or real estate. 

This ad directs users to a “free” webinar, which is, in reality, a 90-minute, high-pressure sales presentation designed to create a sense of urgency and FOMO (fear of missing out).

The webinar culminates in a pitch for an “exclusive” online course, often priced at several hundred or even thousands of dollars. This is frequently followed by aggressive upselling tactics for even more expensive “mastermind” coaching or one-on-one mentorship. 

3. Crypto & Forex Trading Bots: Your Money, Their Algorithm

The promise of automated trading bots and signal groups is deeply alluring because it offers a technological solution to the complex and intimidating world of financial markets.

Viral posts on TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and Telegram channels show what appear to be live trading accounts generating impossibly consistent profits, with captions like, “Let our AI-powered bot trade for you 24/7.

Guaranteed 20% monthly returns with zero effort”. This hustle preys on the belief that a sophisticated algorithm can beat the market, removing human effort and emotion from the equation.

This seemingly advanced opportunity fragments into three primary scam architectures:

Fake Brokers: Scammers create a polished, professional-looking website and trading platform that mimics a legitimate brokerage. Users deposit funds, typically cryptocurrency, and are shown a dashboard where their “trades” appear to be profitable. However, these are merely simulations.

The platform is a facade, and when the user attempts to withdraw their “profits,” they find it impossible. The scammer either disappears with the funds or uses endless excuses and fees to delay withdrawals indefinitely.   

Malicious Software: In this variation, the user is offered a trading bot or algorithm to install on their own computer. The software is promoted as a tool that will automatically execute trades on their behalf.

In reality, the program contains malicious code designed to drain the user’s connected cryptocurrency wallet or steal their private keys, giving the scammer direct access to their funds.   

Signal Seller Scams: Users are charged a recurring subscription fee to join a private group (often on Telegram or Discord) where an “expert” trader provides “winning” trade signals.

These signals are often generic, have no verifiable track record, or are designed with such poor risk management (e.g., wide stop-losses and small profit targets) that they are statistically likely to lose money over time. The seller profits from the subscription fees, regardless of the outcome for their members. 

4. “Cash Flipping” & Money Generators: The Digital Three-Card Monte

Of all the viral side hustle scams, “cash flipping” is perhaps the most brazen. It dispenses with the elaborate facades of courses or trading bots and presents a simple, direct proposition.

A social media post, often on Instagram or in a TikTok video, displays screenshots of what appears to be large sums of money being received through Cash App. The caption reads: “Send me $50 on Cash App, and I’ll flip it into $500 using my secret method. Serious inquiries only!”.   

This is a classic advance-fee fraud, digitized for the social media era. There is no secret method, no investment strategy, and no money generator.

Scammers execute this in several ways. The most common is the direct social media pitch. However, more sophisticated versions exist, including fake “generator” websites that mimic official-looking forms.

These sites prompt users to enter their Cash App username and other personal information under the guise of adding funds to their account, but are actually phishing for login credentials. Other variations involve fraudulent apps that claim to be “Cash App boosters” but are designed to install malware on a user’s device. 

The Deceptive World of E-Commerce: When the “Business” is a Trap

This section examines business models that, while theoretically legitimate, are promoted on social media with such misleading claims about their simplicity, cost, and profitability that they function as scams for the vast majority of participants.

The deception lies not in the model itself, but in the deliberate omission of critical realities.

5. Dropshipping: The 90% Failure Rate They Don’t Show You

The dropshipping dream is sold as the ultimate lifestyle business. Viral TikToks show young entrepreneurs managing their “global e-commerce empire” from a beach in Bali. The pitch is compelling: start an online store with zero upfront inventory costs.

Simply find a trending product on a platform like AliExpress, create a professional-looking Shopify store, run some targeted social media ads, and profit from the markup as a third-party supplier ships the product directly to your customer.   

This narrative, however, systematically omits the brutal economics of the model. The most critical statistic that dropshipping gurus will not tell you is the staggering failure rate: over 90% of new dropshipping stores fail within the first few months. 

The average success rate is estimated to be a mere 10% to 20%. The reason for this mass failure is not a lack of effort, but a business model that is structurally flawed for newcomers. 

6. Amazon FBA: Drowning in Fees and Competition

The pitch for Amazon FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) is another variation of the “passive income” dream. Aspiring entrepreneurs are told to find a generic, high-demand product on a site like Alibaba, create their own “private label” brand, and ship the inventory to an Amazon warehouse.

From there, Amazon—the e-commerce giant—will handle all the storage, packing, shipping, returns, and customer service, allowing the seller to generate income while they sleep.

While FBA can be a powerful tool for established brands, it is deceptively marketed to beginners as a simple, low-effort side hustle.

The reality is that Amazon FBA is an active, capital-intensive, and hyper-competitive retail business where the odds are stacked in favor of the platform itself. The scam lies in the deliberate downplaying of the true costs and complexities involved.

Referral Fees: Typically around 15% of the product’s selling price, charged for the privilege of listing on the platform.

FBA Fulfillment Fees: These fees, which cover picking, packing, and shipping, can range from 20% to 35% of the sale price, depending on the product’s size and weight.

Storage Fees: Monthly fees for storing inventory in Amazon’s warehouses, which increase significantly for slow-moving products or during peak seasons.

Advertising Costs: Due to immense competition, paying for Amazon PPC (Pay-Per-Click) ads is virtually mandatory to gain visibility. This can easily consume another 10-15% of sales revenue. 

7. Sneaker Reselling: When “Hype” Doesn’t Pay the Bills

The sneaker reselling hustle exploded on social media, fueled by images of teenagers making thousands of dollars by “copping” the latest limited-edition Nike or Jordan release and immediately “flipping” it on a secondary marketplace like StockX or GOAT for two or three times the retail price. 

However, this side hustle is a victim of its own viral success. The massive influx of new resellers, armed with information and bots promoted by influencers, has democratized access to a market that was once profitable precisely because of its exclusivity and information asymmetry.

The business has evolved from a simple retail arbitrage play into a sophisticated, high-volume operation. The resellers who are still profitable are not the kids getting lucky on an app; they are operators who have built wholesale relationships with boutiques and retailers to acquire inventory below MSRP, allowing them to profit from even small resale premiums.

The viral content still promoting easy, high-margin flips is dangerously outdated. For the average person entering the market in 2025, sneaker reselling is no longer a path to quick riches but a low-margin, high-competition grind.

8. TikTok Shop & Influencer Scams: The Wild West of Social Commerce

TikTok’s seamless integration of e-commerce into its viral video feed has created a powerful new marketplace, but it has also given rise to a new and chaotic landscape of scams.

The platform’s algorithm, optimized for rapid content dissemination and engagement, is a perfect vector for fraudulent schemes that can reach millions of users before being detected and removed.

The promise is often an unbelievably good deal on a trending product, frequently promoted by an influencer who “swears by it.”

Several types of scams are proliferating on TikTok Shop and the surrounding ecosystem:

Counterfeit and Bogus Products: Scammers create listings for products from well-known brands at drastically reduced prices.

What the consumer receives, if they receive anything at all, is a cheap counterfeit or a product that bears no resemblance to what was advertised. In many cases, after the purchase is made, the seller’s account simply disappears.   

Influencer Impersonation: Fraudsters create duplicate accounts of popular celebrities and influencers, stealing their profile pictures and content to make the page look authentic.

They then use this fake account to promote fraudulent giveaways, cryptocurrency investment scams, or links to bogus TikTok Shop products. The use of AI-generated deepfake videos is making these impersonations increasingly convincing and difficult to spot.   

Promoted Scam Apps: Fake accounts will promote links to download an app that promises a special service or game. In reality, the app may infect the user’s device with malware or is a “fleeceware” app that offers minimal functionality while charging exorbitant subscription fees.

The platform’s design encourages impulsive buying decisions based on social proof and viral trends. Users are often in an entertainment-focused mindset, not a cautious shopping mindset, making them particularly vulnerable to these fast-moving scams.

If a user is scammed, it is critical to immediately report the account to TikTok, change any compromised passwords, and contact their bank or financial institution to report the fraudulent charge.   

“Easy Money” Tasks & Bogus Employment: Your Time and Data are the Real Products

This category of scams is disguised as simple, remote employment. Instead of offering a legitimate job, these schemes are designed to either extract money directly from the victim through a bait-and-switch tactic or to harvest their sensitive personal information for the purpose of identity theft.

9. Task-Based Scams: The “Like Videos for Money” Bait-and-Switch

Task-based scams have exploded in recent years, becoming one of the most frequently reported types of employment fraud.

The scheme begins with an unsolicited message, typically via text, WhatsApp, or another messaging app, offering an easy remote job with an attractive payout: “Get paid $5 for every video you like and subscribe to! Earn $200 a day from your phone”.   

The scam is a sophisticated, multi-stage psychological trap:

The Hook and Bait: The scammer gives the victim a few simple tasks, such as liking a series of YouTube videos or rating products online. To build trust and create an illusion of legitimacy, the scammer may even send a small payment (e.g., $20 or $30) to the victim after the first set of tasks is completed.

The victim’s “earnings” are often tracked on a professionally designed but completely fake app or website, showing their balance growing with each completed task.   

The Switch: Once the victim is invested and sees a significant (though fake) balance in their account, the scammer introduces the trap.

They are told that to continue with more lucrative tasks, or to withdraw their accumulated earnings, they must first deposit their own money—usually in the form of cryptocurrency—to “upgrade their account,” “pay a tax,” or “unlock their funds.”.   

The Loss: If the victim sends the money, it is gone forever. They will never be able to withdraw their fake earnings, and the scammer will either disappear or attempt to extract even more money with further excuses.

This scheme is a masterclass in exploiting the psychological principle of “commitment and consistency.” The initial small tasks and the token payment lower the victim’s defenses and create a sense of sunk cost.

They feel they have “earned” the money in their account and are more willing to pay a fee to unlock what they believe is rightfully theirs.

10. Remote Data Entry & Fake Job Scams: The Paycheck That Costs You Money

The proliferation of remote work has created fertile ground for a more traditional form of employment fraud: the fake job scam.

These schemes often appear on legitimate job boards like LinkedIn or Indeed, advertising positions such as “remote data entry clerk” or “personal assistant” with attractive pay ($30/hour or more) and no experience required.   

The most common variation of this scam involves a fraudulent check. The mechanics are as follows:

After a brief, often text-based “interview,” the victim is “hired” with surprising speed.   

The fake employer informs the new hire that they need to purchase specific equipment, like a laptop or software, from a “preferred vendor.”

The employer sends the victim a check, often for an amount significantly higher than the cost of the equipment. They instruct the victim to deposit the check immediately and then wire the “overpayment” back to them or to the “vendor”.   

Days or weeks later, the victim’s bank discovers that the deposited check was counterfeit and reverses the transaction, deducting the full amount from the victim’s account. By this time, the money the victim wired is long gone and untraceable, leaving them liable for the entire loss. 

Other versions of this scam are designed purely for data harvesting. Fraudulent websites, such as the now-defunct edhcareers.com, send out fake job offers that require the applicant to submit sensitive personal information, including copies of their ID and Social Security number, under the guise of a background check. This data is then used for identity theft.

11. Envelope Stuffing at Home: The Analog Scam That Refuses to Die

Long before the advent of the internet, the envelope stuffing scam was a staple of classified ads in newspapers and magazines. Despite its age, this scheme has proven remarkably resilient, finding new life in social media posts and email spam.

The promise is simple and tangible: “Earn $550 to $3,000 weekly stuffing envelopes from home! No experience necessary. For a small fee, we’ll send you the startup kit”.   

This is a quintessential work-from-home scam, and its mechanics have remained unchanged for decades. The deception lies in the nature of the “job” itself.

After a victim pays the upfront fee for the “information” or “supplies,” they do not receive a box of envelopes and circulars to stuff for an employer. Instead, they receive a single letter with instructions on how to perpetuate the scam.

The letter directs them to place the exact same “envelope-stuffing” ad they responded to in newspapers, online forums, or on social media.   

The only way a participant can make money is by successfully duping other people into sending them the upfront fee. The original promoter rarely, if ever, pays anyone for stuffing envelopes.

The work is not stuffing envelopes; the work is selling the fraudulent idea of stuffing envelopes to others. This makes it a “meta-scam”—a fraud whose only function is to replicate itself.

12. Online Survey Scams: You’re Not Earning, You’re the Product

The proposition of an online survey side hustle seems innocuous and easy. Social media ads and spam emails promise attractive rewards for minimal effort: “Get a $100 Amazon gift card for completing this 5-minute survey!”. 

While legitimate market research companies do pay for consumer opinions, the vast majority of these viral offers are scams designed to harvest valuable personal data rather than to provide income.   

The “survey” is a cleverly disguised data mining operation. The mechanics of the fraud vary:

Identity Theft Data Harvesting: The survey asks a series of seemingly innocent questions that are, in fact, common security questions used by banks and other online services (e.g., “What was your mother’s maiden name?”, “What was the name of your first pet?”).

Scammers collect these answers to gain access to the victim’s accounts or to build a profile for identity theft.   

Phishing for Credentials: The survey form will include fields that request highly sensitive information that no legitimate survey would ever ask for, such as a Social Security number, credit card details, or account passwords. The goal is to directly steal financial information or login credentials.   

Malware Installation: The link in the survey email or ad directs the user to a malicious website. This site can install malware, spyware, or keyloggers on the user’s device, allowing the scammer to steal information in the background.

A common tactic used to maximize data collection is the “prequalification” trick. The scammer presents a long series of personal and demographic questions under the guise of checking if the user is eligible for the survey.

After the user has provided a wealth of information, the site displays a message stating, “Sorry, but you don’t qualify for the survey reward,” leaving the victim with nothing while the scammer walks away with their data.

The “Be Your Own Boss” Traps: When the Business Model is the Real Risk

This final category includes ventures that are often presented as legitimate entrepreneurial opportunities. However, they are fraught with such significant hidden legal risks, deceptive income claims, and flawed structural models that they function as traps for the unwary, making failure and financial loss a near-certainty.

13. Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) vs. Pyramid Schemes: The FTC’s Official Checklist

The allure of Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) is powerfully amplified by social media. Feeds are filled with posts from “entrepreneurs” who appear to be living a dream life—working from their phones, going on company-sponsored trips, and being their own “boss babe.”

The pitch is to join their “team,” sell products they love, and achieve financial freedom by building a network of other sellers.   

An MLM, also known as network or direct marketing, is a business model where participants sell products to the public and earn income from their own sales and from the sales of the people they recruit, known as their “downline”. 

The FTC provides clear warning signs that an opportunity may be a pyramid scheme:

• Extravagant Promises: Promoters make false and exaggerated claims about potential earnings.
• Emphasis on Recruiting: The real path to making money is presented as recruiting new distributors, not selling the product.
• High-Pressure Tactics: Promoters use emotional appeals and create a sense of urgency to pressure individuals into joining immediately.
• Inventory Loading: Distributors are required or encouraged to buy more products than they can realistically use or sell, simply to remain active or qualify for bonuses.   

14. Rental Arbitrage: The Landlord and Legal Nightmare

Promoted on TikTok and YouTube as the ultimate “real estate hack,” rental arbitrage offers a seductive premise: make money from property without owning any.

The model is straightforward: sign a long-term lease for an apartment or house, then list that same property on a short-term rental (STR) platform like Airbnb or Vrbo for a higher nightly rate. The difference between the monthly STR income and the fixed rent paid to the landlord is pure profit.   

This viral hustle, however, is a legal and financial minefield. The scam lies in the deceptive marketing that conveniently omits the two most critical components: legal permissions and regulatory compliance.

A Patchwork of Strict City Regulations: In response to housing shortages and neighborhood complaints, many major cities across the country have implemented extremely strict STR regulations.

These laws can include requiring expensive business licenses and permits, limiting the number of nights a property can be rented per year, enforcing strict zoning rules, and mandating that the host must be the primary resident of the property.

Violating these municipal codes can result in heavy fines levied not just against the tenant, but against the property owner, who will then hold the tenant legally and financially responsible. 

15. Instagram “Theme Pages”: A Race to the Bottom for Clicks and Scams

The “faceless” Instagram theme page is pitched as an ideal, low-effort side hustle for those who want to make money online without showing their face.

The strategy is to pick a popular niche (e.g., luxury cars, travel, motivation), grow an account to hundreds of thousands of followers by curating and reposting viral content made by others, and then monetize the audience by selling “shout-outs” (paid promotions) or affiliate products.   

This model, however, is an illusion of asset creation. While the follower count may appear valuable, it is often built on a foundation that is structurally unsound for legitimate, long-term monetization. The reality for most theme page operators is a struggle for minimal returns in a scam-ridden ecosystem.

Monetization is exceptionally difficult. The audience for a theme page follows for the curated content, not for the anonymous creator behind it. This lack of personal connection and authority makes it nearly impossible to build the trust required to sell products or services effectively. As a result, most pages are relegated to selling low-cost shout-outs.

Conclusion: Your Digital Self-Defense Playbook

The 15 schemes detailed in this report, while diverse in their mechanics, are united by a common set of psychological tactics.

They consistently feature promises of easy or guaranteed returns, employ high-pressure sales tactics to create false urgency, manipulate social proof with fake testimonials and follower counts, and often require an upfront fee or investment. These are the universal, timeless signals of a scam, whether it originates from a 1985 classified ad or a 2025 TikTok video.   

Navigating the digital world requires a new form of literacy—one focused on skepticism and verification. The real path to financial independence is not found in a secret hack, a viral trend, or an overpriced course.

It is forged through the development of real skills, the creation of genuine value, and the cultivation of a discerning eye that can separate authentic opportunity from sophisticated deception. The knowledge in this report should not lead to cynicism, but to a smarter, safer, and more empowered approach to any entrepreneurial journey.

Actionable Checklist for Vetting Opportunities

Before investing time or money into any online side hustle, conduct the following checks:

Verify the Source: Is the person promoting the opportunity a genuine expert with a verifiable track record of success in that field, outside of just selling courses or recruitment? Search their name and their company’s name online with terms like “scam,” “review,” or “complaint”.   

Question the Model: Could you still make a reasonable income if you never recruited a single other person to join? This is the fundamental test to distinguish a legitimate business from a potential pyramid scheme.   

Check with Regulators: Search for the company on the websites of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Better Business Bureau (BBB). A lack of complaints is not a guarantee of legitimacy, but a pattern of complaints is a major red flag.   

Trust the Adage: If an offer sounds too good to be true—promising high returns for little to no effort or risk—it almost certainly is.   

What to Do If You Have Been Scammed

If you believe you have fallen victim to a scam, taking immediate action is critical:

Stop All Communication: Cease all contact with the scammer immediately. Block their phone numbers, email addresses, and social media accounts.   

Contact Your Financial Institution: Call your bank, credit card company, or the payment app you used (like Cash App or Zelle) right away. Report the fraud and ask if any transactions can be reversed.

Report to the FTC: File a detailed report at the FTC’s official website: ReportFraud.ftc.gov. This data is crucial for law enforcement to track and combat fraud trends.   

Report to the Platform: Report the fraudulent account, ad, or listing on the social media platform (TikTok, Instagram, etc.) where you encountered it.

Protect Your Identity: If you shared sensitive personal information like your Social Security number, visit the government’s official resource at IdentityTheft.gov to create a recovery plan. 

By arming oneself with this knowledge and these defensive strategies, it becomes possible to navigate the digital marketplace with confidence, ready to seize real opportunities while sidestepping the costly mirage of viral side hustle scams.