Content creators hired by the prediction market platform Polymarket staged fake wins totaling $1.9 million as part of a campaign involving lookalike websites, according to CBS News citing an investigation by The Wall Street Journal.
The report reveals that 118 TikTok videos (about 10% of the 1,100 analyzed) featured fictitious wins of nearly $900,000. However, had the same bets been placed on the actual platform, the creators would have lost over $166,000.
In one video, a student showcased a $100,000 win from a $1,000 bet on the prediction that U.S. President Donald Trump would publicly say the word 'McDonald's.' In reality, 50 genuine accounts placed bets on the same outcome and all lost.