They dangle the dream of passive income with bold claims like “quit your job in 30 days” or “start making $10k/month from your phone.” What they don’t show is the reality: real digital marketing is work. It takes experimentation, continuous learning, and a foundation in real business needs.

A common tactic is the “live strategy call” or webinar invite. They advertise it as a chance to speak with an expert, get personalized guidance, and fast-track your success. But in reality, these calls are just polished sales pitches—often pre-recorded or hosted by a generic rep, not the influencer themselves. Once you’ve bought in, that one-on-one mentorship disappears. There’s no expert access, no real feedback, just a maze of generic content and upsells.

To boost their credibility, they also use platforms to host their content, making it look official and extensive. The course dashboards, progress bars, and lesson titles create the illusion of depth. But once inside, you often find shallow videos, recycled templates, and surface-level advice. It’s all presentation, no power.

That said, some do stumble across genuinely useful tools, like a good AI content generator, an analytics plugin, or a productivity hack. These are the real gems, but they’re usually buried in noise. If you’re going to explore this space, your goal should be to extract these scattered nuggets and assemble your own curated toolkit, not to follow someone else’s funnel into a hollow business model.

Also, don’t forget: Google is still your friend. With a bit of effort and some critical thinking, you can find better tutorials, more honest reviews, and more detailed breakdowns from experienced marketers, often from legitimate blogs, agency sites, or established professionals.

Ultimately, you make yourself vulnerable when you buy into the idea that success requires no effort, that you can skip the research, the learning curve, and the trial and error. That mindset is the real scam.