In the quest for fame and popularity in social media, a lot of people have been reduced to buying likes, followers, and even views but this isn't about those people, it is about those who provide these services.
For the longest time, I have often wondered about the concept of buying followers especially when I see certain people put down that these followers aren't bots but I have never really thought about going deeper, well until now.
A few months back, I was talking to a friend of mine who apparently had a bunch of side hustles, and in my goal of diversification of income, I asked her to put me through some of them which she did by telling me about a company she worked for online and she was being paid just to like and follow certain accounts, my question immediately was "what is the catch", and she began explaining that she had to pay an amount of 17,000 naira to get on the first VIP level which would give her an income of 25,500 naira monthly for a year.
She further went on to put me through the whole process and urged me to join which I was very skeptical about but eventually did out of curiosity.
NOW THIS IS MY EXPERIENCE AFTER DOING IT FOR A MONTH
First of all, to me, the whole system seemed very suspicious and fishy, like something that could be a poster child for a scam but I decided to finish what I had started so I paid the money and was added to a WhatsApp group.
First red flag: the group admins used fake pictures as their profile but it was okay I guess, maybe they didn't want people knowing their identity.
Moving on, after payment I was given ten tasks to do daily on either Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube, and these tasks were done on major celebrities' accounts like Eminem to Justin Bieber which made me wonder what the point was and if these celebrities were truly paying for this.
One thing I was quick to realize was that these people pushed referrals like it was water in the desert and they would often randomly pop up in the group with broadcasts about referrals which was a second red flag.
PAYMENT SYSTEM
The payment system was annoying on its own because they had a credit point system and they gave each newbie 60 credits and for each withdrawal 1 is taken and your credit determined how fast you can withdraw your money. so if it was 50 and below, well I am sorry for you.
The third red flag was having someone message me privately that he had been deleted from the group because he had a low credit and he wasn't being paid so he complained.
SOMETHING TO NOTE
It is important to note that the company had different payment plans and different income rates.
DID I GET PAID?
After a month, I clicked on withdrawal, a tax was taken, and then nothing.
I waited for a few days and still nothing so I decided to make a complaint in the WhatsApp group chat which resulted in one of the admins messaging me privately and I was paid in less than 5 minutes which made me wonder why it wasn't done earlier on if it was that easy to do, I figured that it was a way to maybe not pay everyone on time.
WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS TO OTHERS?
Well, the answer would be yes and no; yes if you are just looking for a side hustle to do and it could be a good one especially after taking your initial investment, no if you want to do it long term because most people on the group chat have a fear of withdrawing so they wait months and just upgrade to the highest VIP so they could withdraw once or twice and go due to the credit score.
IN CONCLUSION
Since I have already joined the system, I would be doing it until my credit system is low or they stop paying me, I am choosing not to refer people because I don't think I want to put anyone in that situation but if I am asked, I don't mind it.
I really don't regret joining the program since it is a means to earn and I can simply just walk away right now with the feeling that I have made a profit from it but regardless what do you think about this? Is it something worth trying or not?
THANK YOU FOR OPENING THIS BOX OF PASSION