Those influencers raking in thousands on Polymarket bets and then bragging about it in TikTok sponcon? They were faking it.
A recent investigation by the Wall Street Journal found that Polymarket, the prediction market advised by Donald Trump Jr., paid online creators to post deceptive ads that implied they won big on the platform but actually featured dummy sites and losing bets.
The publication reviewed more than a thousand TikTok videos from 10 creators promoting the company. The Journal also interviewed influencers who had been paid to include company promotional materials in their videos. According to their findings, half of the videos included footage of non-lucrative bets while discussing winning payouts, and more than half showed platforms that weren't Polymarket at all.
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In total, creators sold their followers on about $900,000 in fake winnings, but the publication determined those same bets would have lost the creators more than $166,000. The company allegedly paid a hiring firm and a network of social media accounts to promote the advertisements, in an attempt to get them to go viral.
Shortly after the investigation was published, Polymarket announced it was launching an internal probe to audit its advertising arm.
"As the world's leading prediction market, we are committed to maintaining accurate, fair and transparent markets," the company told CBS News." We are part of a rapidly growing industry and are constantly evaluating ways to improve how we're engaging and earning the trust of our audience. As part of that commitment, we are conducting a comprehensive audit of active promotional content to ensure it complies with our standards, as well as applicable regulatory and legal disclosure requirements."
Prediction markets, including Polymarket and competitor Kalshi, are aggressively pushing their platforms to the general public, with celebrity ambassadors like Timothée Chalamet and World Cup stars like Lionel Messi fronting mega advertising campaigns.