According to a Wall Street Journal investigation, Polymarket has been paying people to film themselves placing fake bets and celebrating fake wins on social media. WSJ identified over 1,100 deceptive clips, with creators confirming the company paid them to create these videos.

The videos look legitimate at first glance but often contain subtle clues that reveal their fraudulent nature. One clip, for example, features someone visiting “poiymarket.com” instead of the real polymarket.com domain. None of the bets in these over 1,100 videos were real; 118 creators pretended to win bets totaling almost $900,000 while they would have actually lost $166,000.

Since the Journal’s investigation came to light, many creators have removed their videos from social media accounts. Polymarket has also taken down websites like “poiymarket” that were part of this deceptive scheme.

This revelation raises questions about the authenticity of content we see online and the trustworthiness of such platforms. It serves as a reminder to scrutinize the information we consume, especially in the age of social media where fake news can spread rapidly.