TikTokers Keep Inventing Money ‘Hacks’ That Are Actually Fraud
There’s no such thing as free money. But on TikTok, the apparent solution to that adage seems to be ignoring it entirely — often committing fraud in the process.
Over the weekend, the phrase “Chase bank hack” went viral on the video-sharing app after users became convinced that the ATM system at the national bank was glitching. Why? Dozens of users, who have now deleted their videos, announced that the bank’s ATMs would allow any customer to immediately withdraw cash from a check they had just deposited — even if they didn’t actually have the check’s amount in their account. If that sounds too good to be true, then you recognize that this trick is just writing a bounced check. It’s not a hack — it’s fraud.
But it took less than three days for the get-cash-quick scheme to become a shitshow. Users posted hundreds of now-deleted videos showing their Chase accounts with negative amounts up to $50,000. A spokesperson for Chase did not respond to Rolling Stone’s questions about how many users attempted to withdraw cash and what amount of money was involved, but said the bank is “aware of this incident, and it has been addressed. Regardless of what you see online, depositing a fraudulent check and withdrawing the funds from your account is fraud, plain and simple.”
Most of the videos on TikTok addressing the Chase glitch that are still up are satirical sketches about what a bad idea it is to commit financial crimes and then post about it with your full face in view. But bad money content isn’t anything new. There’s an entire ecosystem of online financial advice that is either wrong, fraudulent, or genuinely just a bad idea. Earlier this year, a 26-year-old mother identifying herself as just Patricia, went viral for her Business Women University program, which taught young women how to make circular transactions with multiple credit cards to grow their lines of credit and use them to start a business. Patricia denied committing any type of fraud to Rolling Stone, but financial expert Kelsa Dickey says the plan could potentially violate tax laws for LLCs. There’s the crypto bros, who convince people to spend their life savings on a digital currency they don’t understand and has a valuation wildly made up. Or take the all-too-popular MLMs girlies, whose claim to fame online seems to be convincing people to join multi-level marketing schemes and promising they’re not multi-level marketing schemes. “This is not the first time nor will it be the last time that people take financial advice from social media,” Giovanna Gonzalez, a financial educator on TikTok who tailors a lot of her advice to first generation immigrants, tells Rolling Stone.
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So why do so many people keep falling for these schemes? According to Gonzalez, bad faith financial actors can get extremely popular online by knowing how to market themselves. They make videos that people want to watch, and then people with poor financial literacy or skills can often get sucked in.
“In order to be successful [at social media], you have to be able to be attention-grabbing and entertaining in some way,” Gonzalez says. “You’re just going on your phone, consuming content, when you come across this viral hack on how to make money or passive income. But just because somebody is good at marketing or presenting information doesn’t make them an expert.”
Ellyce Fulmore, another financial expert who also shares tips and tricks on her TikTok account, says while she was shocked the Chase bank glitch rumors spread so far, she completely understands why people would want to try it. “There are so many people that are financially struggling right now, and so when they see this hack that’s seeming like a simple, easy solution, they’re more vulnerable to that kind of advice,” she says.
Fulmore also notes the popularity of quick cash wins can make people want to jump on dubious schemes quicker for fear of missing out. There’s an entire genre of TikTok podcasters that make content based on the money they claim to have in their bank accounts and the cash they’ve made from multiple financial arrangements and hacks. The prevalence of these accounts can create a financial ecosystem where people, especially those not well-versed in finance, feel like if they slow down or hesitate they’ll miss out on a desperately needed payday. “These financial quick wins have more virality, and they spread quickly. So then you’re seeing 20 videos on your for-you page of people doing this. So you have this misconception that it is a successful hack that you could do. That can be dangerous.”
According to Gonzalez and Fulmore, the best way to protect yourself from scrupulous financial advice online is simple: fact-check everything.
“Well, specifically for the Chase hack, don’t do it because it’s fraud,” Fulmore says.” But if you see something like that online, really think about, okay, the person who’s telling me this, who are they? What experience do they have that allows them to speak on this? Is the goal of their video to provide financial education, or is the goal of their video to provide entertainment and have a catchy hook that people want to watch?
“People can be very good with the theatrics and editing videos and making stuff look really appealing, but that doesn’t mean that they’re qualified,” Gonzalez says. “Ultimately, when it comes down to it, you should not be taking financial advice from the Internet.”