4 Viral TikTok Side Gigs That Are Actually Scams
Written by
Lydia Kibet
Edited by
Amen Oyiboke
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If you often doomscroll TikTok in your free time, you’ve probably come across creators flaunting screenshots of five-figure months from side gigs.
They even claim anyone can start these side hustles and make money. It’s tempting to jump into these gigs, but most of them are actually scams.
Here are common TikTok side gigs that are scams, so you don’t fall victim.
Get Paid To Like or Share Content
You’ll receive a call or a text offering you a simple work-from-home job that could earn you hundreds of dollars a day. Your job is pretty easy. You’re asked to like and share videos, usually on TikTok.
If you agree, you’ll need to fill out a form with your personal information, including bank details, which scammers can use to commit fraud. After you sign up and complete some assignments, you’ll get your first pay to make everything look legit. Scammers will then ask you to pay a certain amount to unlock more earnings or for training materials that will help you make more money.
In some cases, scammers have persuaded victims to become money mules, letting scammers use their bank accounts to process payments for a hefty reward.
Letter Writing
If you’ve come across TikTok videos of people claiming to make money handwriting letters, that’s a scam. Why would real businesses want letters written for them in the first place? Plus, paying $5 for each letter sounds too good to be true.
But before you start the side gig, you must buy a plan or pay for training materials. Once you pay, you either receive nothing or a manual instructing you to recruit others into the same scheme.
YouTuber Lindey Glenn shared in a video that not one participant could verify actual earnings, and the same companies operate under multiple fake names.
Guaranteed Income or AI Side Hustles
Some TikTok creators are pushing AI-powered side hustles that offer guaranteed income, which are almost always a scam. They claim that you can generate passive income using tools like ChatGPT, Canva, or Etsy. In most cases, they’ll tell you that you can make hundreds of dollars a day even with zero experience.
However, you must pay a fee to access training materials or join a premium plan. In reality, these scammers are making money off selling courses and earning affiliate commissions, not the side hustles. So, if someone tells you can make money without experience and you have to use premium tools or buy a course upfront, it’s probably a scam.
Money Making Apps
TikTok is flooded with creators claiming they’ve found “secret” apps that pay users to perform simple tasks. These videos rack up millions of views because they target people who want quick cash with minimal effort. But most of these secret money apps are either low-paying data traps or outright scams.
According to BetaNews, many of these apps lure users with inflated payout promises, only to pay pennies if they pay at all. Your work may include tasks like watching ads, completing surveys, or downloading other apps, which generate advertising revenue for the developer, not you.
Even worse, some of these apps request access to personal data, such as your email, location, or even banking information, in the name of payment setup. Once you share, scammers can sell the data to third parties or use it for phishing attempts.
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