$5 Dollar Letter Writing Side Hustle Is Breaking The Internet: Beware It Could Be A Scam

With soaring cost of living, several Americans are turning to side hustles to make an extra bit of cash. While there are several legit side hustles that can support people’s income, there are frauds that can suck the money out. One such side hustle was shared by a TikTok creator named Courtney (@marketing.guru7), which was later called out by a YouTuber to be fake. Courtney, promoted a side hustle of writing letters on behalf of large companies claiming people can earn $5 per letter they write. But there may be a catch.

Here's All About The Letter Writing Gig

In the TikTok video, which has over 2 million views, Courtney says that people can get into the letter writing biz with just pen and paper. She starts off by saying, “If you don’t want to sell, if you don’t want to recruit, build a team, MLM or digital marketing,” which sounds exciting.

She then breaks it down saying, “All you do is write letters.” She claims that people get paid $5 for each letter. She says that this is used by large companies who need people to hand write letters for them.

She further claims that it is a genuine side hustle which also has an affiliate program. Through this people can make up to $100 per referral they make. This is where red flags should go off for most viewers, that is why she doubles down by saying that it is totally optional.

While thousands of people have commented on her video, a report from Twisted Sifter shared screenshots of comments that indicated it may be a fraud. One particular screenshot shared in the report claimed that people need $200 to sign up for the side hustle. However, Courtney has posted several follow ups on her page including a post saying beware of scammers.  

On the other hand, the Twisted Sifter report also contained a YouTube video which claimed to expose the particular side hustle as a scam. In her video, the YouTuber named Julie Anderson claimed that she came across a similar scam a few years ago and now she creates content to help others stay safe from scams. 

In the video, Anderson details on the scam by sharing several screenshots. Her video shows that the scam is prevalent across social media platforms including Facebook. Thus, it is best to take Courtney’s proposition with a pinch of salt and proceed with caution.

With prevalence of remote work, scammers are targeting people who are looking for such jobs with promises of guaranteed and easy income. Most prevalent digital platforms used for targeting victims include Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and more. From here the scammers migrate to personal platforms like WhatsApp to take their scheme further. Thus it is important for social media users to stay updated with information on the latest scams to be safe.

Here’s How to Be Safe From Side Hustle Scams

It is advisable to steer clear of offers or side hustles that promote easy remote work, attractive pay rates, flexible hours or outlandish perks. Further, people should avoid clicking on suspicious links especially for any kind of monetary transaction or exchange of information. Side hustles that ask for an initial payment and promise increment in income with time, should be avoided completely.