Don’t Trust Fake Advertisers — No Matter the Price | A Lesson from a Content Creator

Hello everyone,
I’m Jamal

As the title says: don’t trust fake advertisers — no matter how good the offer sounds.

I have been creating content since 2024 and today I thank myself to be consistent until have over 18.5K followers on Instagram and 13.5K subscribers on YouTube.

Throughout this journey I’ve received tons of messages from supposed “advertisers” asking me to promote their products or services or websites.

At first I said to myself: “Great! Collaborations and money that’s a win, right?”

Well… only if they were real.

Unfortunately, most of the advertisers who reached out to me whether through Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok turned out to be completely fake. Just scammers.

Here’s how it usually goes:
They say, “We’ll pay you $100 per video if it reaches 100K views. If not, you get nothing.”
I reply politely, “Okay, that’s fine but we should have a contract to ensure that everthing is clear I need a small down payment to cover editing and design costs.”

As soon as I say this, they disappear.
They send the same copy-paste excuse:

“Hey Jamal, just wanted to let you know our marketing team decided to pause new collaborations for now. Really appreciate your time — we might reach out in the future. Thanks!”

It happens over and over.
The moment I ask for a contract or a small upfront payment, they vanish.

So I wanted to write this blog just to give this advice:

Don’t trust anyone just because they promise you money most Instagram advertisers are fake.

I spend over 7 hours a day creating free content and free courses to help people not to be fooled by fake promises.

At first, I thought these offers might help cover my content costs, even just a little. But I learned the truth the hard way:

If it sounds too good to be true — it probably is.

But I’m not stopping.
These people won’t break me.
I’ve learned so much from this experience and I’m truly grateful to have learned it at 16, not later in life when the stakes are higher.

Thank you for reading.
I hope my experience helps you avoid the same mistakes.
Stay smart, stay focused.
And never stop creating. 💪

— Jamal

Content Creation

Life Lesson