No, Freecash will not pay you for TikTok scrolls

encountered for the first time Free money program After clicking on Sponsored Tik Tok Video with questionable claims. The ad did not promote this app by name, but rather showed a young woman expressing her excitement at being hired by TikTok for $35 an hour to watch videos on its “For You” page.

When I clicked the “Order Now” link, it sent me to A Website With the TikTok and Freecash logos, with a download link to the Freecash app. “Get paid to scroll,” read the site. “Join thousands of earnings daily by watching TikTok videos and withdraw money instantly.”

In the first month of 2026, Freecash’s popularity skyrocketed among users in the United States. This week it reached second place on Apple’s free list iOS Download the charts, which fall in between ChatGPT and twin. The rise in downloads coincides with a wave of ads promoting the Freecash app.

The app appears to be using the familiar strategy of offering rewards to users who share their information or complete tasks online. As a kid, I remember entering my dad’s email and address into some pop-up window for a free iTunes gift card, which never shipped us the promised $20 in downloads and likely clogged his inbox with spam. (please forgive me.)

Although Freecash does pay users, it’s not limited to social media browsing. The app’s business model revolves around attracting new users to play mobile games and then providing players with financial rewards. These promises of direct payouts for aimlessly scrolling on TikTok seem too good to be true, because they are.

Ben Rath, a TikTok spokesman, says the Freecash ads violate TikTok’s rules prohibiting financial misrepresentation. After WIRED reached out, the ads in question were removed for what the company deemed deceptive, Rath says marketing. The social media platform prohibits ads designed to “deceive individuals into obtaining money or personal data,” according to The Verge. TikTok Advertising Policies.

The company behind Freecash claims that it did not directly produce the ads you encounter on TikTok. Instead, the marketing is created by third-party partners, says Elizaveta Shulendina, a spokeswoman for Freecash’s parent company. “We are reviewing the activity with relevant partners and tightening monitoring.”

Back on my TikTok feed, after I clicked on the first sponsored post, the barrage of booster videos promoting Freecash continued. A post with more than 150,000 likes showed a mother and her young son traveling to the store together, because she could buy “her son what he wants now that I get paid to watch TikTok.” Other promotional videos showed more people excited about the amount of cash they get for a TikTok pass.

It’s not clear whether the women and children appearing in the TikTok ads are actually the people promoting Freecash. Many of the ads originated from TikTok accounts with few followers or accounts that did not have any other publicly viewable videos.

When I finally downloaded the app, instead of finding ways to instantly get some sort of commission for swiping on TikTok, I was directed to download several apps Mobile gamesHe loves Monopoly going and Disney solitaire.

After that, I was finally given the option to complete the challenges in a limited amount of time to earn money. the Monopoly going The challenges included cash rewards ranging from $0.01 for playing the game for two minutes per day to $123 for reaching level 300 in less than three months.

I contacted the company behind Freecash Almediaheadquartered in Berlin. Almedia operates the Freecash app as an advertising platform that matches mobile game developers with new users who will not only install the apps, but also spend money.