It’s become pretty common these days to see YouTubers and
young influencers claiming they’re “travelling full-time on remote work income” — but it does make you wonder, how many of them are actually legit?
So, I decided to run a little experiment after receiving something dodgy that I’d normally just delete. It caught my attention because it mentioned paid work promoting Google Maps listings. That immediately raised a red flag — but instead of ignoring it, I decided to dig in and see where the scam revealed itself.
Sure enough, I found it. And since I know a lot of our
forum readers might be in the demographic these scammers target — and because scams have become much more sophisticated — I wanted to share what I found.
The short version? It’s all about paying people to write fake reviews.
That alone makes it relevant to our community, because I’m often curious myself about the authenticity of reviews online.
We all want to believe that easy money exists — but as the saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
It started innocently enough. I followed along just far enough to understand the setup (without handing over any personal details or logging into anything risky). Once I’d pieced it together, I did a quick search and found confirmation of the scam here:
Here’s the Scam Alerts Facebook post
Scam Alerts Australia
For those wary of clicking links, here’s a quick summary:
It begins with a WhatsApp message claiming to be a “Google Maps Australia promotion for Airbnb”.
You’re asked to perform two simple “tasks” — such as opening two hotel listings on Google Maps and saving them to your "favourites" — and are promised $10 each. The ones I was given were in
Sydney. Once you’ve completed them, you’re asked to verify and then supply your bank details to receive payment. Then comes the next stage: they offer “advanced tasks” with triple the rewards. But to do these, you must pay upfront (which they promise will be refunded). As the tasks continue, the upfront amounts get bigger — eventually asking for thousands.
The actual “work” they want? Writing fake Airbnb reviews.
So please — if you, or anyone in your family, gets one of these offers, don’t take the bait.
Even if it looks legitimate, or the early steps seem harmless, it’s just another get-rich-quick trap. Some of these setups might technically skirt legality, but they’re unethical and exploitative, and they contribute to the flood of misinformation online.
As someone who runs an online business, I find this kind of thing especially frustrating. We work hard to maintain transparency and trust — we publish real content, offer genuine products, and stay accessible through our Help Desk, email, and even by phone.
It’s disheartening to see scams like this making people wary of honest online operators — but the best defence is awareness. Hopefully, sharing this helps someone spot the signs early and avoid being caught out.
Michelle