New Zealand YouTuber MegaLag recently uploaded a video exposing that the Honey website, recommended by many well-known influencers for finding online discounts, is actually a scam website and possibly the largest financial fraud ever targeted at YouTube influencers.
MegaLag claims that Honey not only scams consumers but also steals the promotional commissions that YouTubers should earn for advertising this website. He believes this form of internet fraud causes content creators to lose millions of dollars.
After years of investigation, MegaLag found that Honey does not provide most users with discount benefits. Those deceived include not only online consumers but also influencers promoting this application and individuals or companies looking to earn commissions through referral links.
How does the online discount website Honey work?
Honey is a Chrome application plugin. The official website states that using the Honey browser plugin allows users to find various discount codes for products they want to buy, which can be used at checkout for discounts and cash back.
PayPal acquired Honey in 2020 for approximately $4 billion. Honey has around 17 million users and claims that each user can save about $126 per year on average, with nearly 18% discounts available.
This PayPal-owned application is a favorite among content creators and influencers for finding online discount deals, with well-known influencers such as Mr. Beast, MKBHD, and Linus Tech Tips endorsing it for marketing.
Honey is a free plugin. After registering, users can search for products they want to buy online, and then the Honey page will pop up with 'discounts' and redirect users to the PayPal website. However, Honey's 'discounts' are generative pages showing how much consumers can save, providing 'points' rewards instead of 'cash' discounts. In other words, it gives consumers an 'illusion' more than substantial benefits.
Is Honey a clickbait website?
MegaLag states that technically, Honey replaces the Affiliate Cookie generated from influencer referral links with its own Cookie, allowing the commission from sold products to go into Honey's pocket, resulting in influencers being exploited and not earning profits.
Honey claims to find various discounts, but in reality, it is a business revenue-sharing agreement that was pre-established with partner stores, ultimately aiming to integrate consumer data into the PayPal website, and consumers cannot verify if they can truly save a lot of money. Free Honey, like many tech companies' favorite jargon, means that if the product is free, the users themselves become the product that can be sold, which is called 'the most expensive free'.
Is this type of digital marketing that stimulates consumption through referral discount links considered a scam? It's hard to define; however, if the underlying 'black technology' secretly changes the links that should generate profit or if the ultimate goal is to steal personal information and consumption data, then that is a crime.
This article reports that New Zealand YouTuber has exposed that the Honey website under PayPal may be the largest financial consumer fraud in history, first appearing on Chain News ABMedia.