Is this offer real? Score it in 3 minutes.

Why this exists

"Is this a scam?" is one of the most common questions creators ask online. We read hundreds of creator questions on Reddit, and the scam questions all sound the same:

• "A brand wants me to pay a shipping fee before they send the product. Is this legit?"
• "This agency won't tell me its name. Sketchy?"
• "It feels too good to be true. My first sponsorship offer, and I only have 800 subscribers."
• "They want me to post a test story before we sign anything."
• "The email has a link to download the brief. I'm scared to click it."

Here's the thing. We run creator programs for brands, including Tabs, where our creator videos pull 100M+ views a month. We send creators offers every week. So we know what a real offer looks like, because we write them. Real brands and real programs all do a few boring things the same way. Scammers skip them. That gap is your checklist.

How to use it

Open the offer: the email, DM, or platform message. Go through the 7 flags below. Give it 1 point for every flag that's true. Add them up. Then jump to your score.

Takes 3 minutes. Do it before you reply, click, or film anything.

The 7 red flags

They follow the same order as Module 7, Lesson 1 of the course. Flag 1 came up far more than any other in the scam questions creators asked.

Flag 1: They ask you to pay

A "shipping fee." An "onboarding fee." A "deposit to secure your spot." A course you have to buy before you get the contract. A Discord that costs money to join before you see a brief.

The rule: money flows from the brand to you. Never the other way. A real brand pays for the product, the shipping, the platform, and your fee. If you have to send money to get paid, it's a scam. No exceptions.

Score 1 if they ask you for any money, for any reason.

Flag 2: They want a login, a download, or a "sign in to see the brief"

"Download the campaign brief here." "Log in with your Instagram to confirm." A file that ends in .exe, .zip, or .scr. A "sponsorship" email asking you to install a "video editing tool" to review.

The rule: this is how accounts get hacked. Creators have lost entire channels this way. A real brief is a Google Doc, a PDF, or text in the email. Nobody legit needs your password or a download to start a collab.

Score 1 if there's any link you'd need to download from, or any login request.

Flag 3: The sender doesn't match the brand

The agency won't name itself. The email comes from a Gmail or Outlook address but claims to be a big brand. The domain is a little off (brand-collabs-team.co instead of the brand's real site). The person has no LinkedIn and the "company" has no website.

The rule: real people at real brands are easy to find. Google them. Check that the email domain matches the brand's actual website. If the agency won't tell you its name, you have your answer.

Score 1 if you can't verify the person, the company, and the email domain in 5 minutes.

Flag 4: Urgency, flattery, and too good to be true

"We love your content so much!" to an account with 800 followers. A huge fee for a tiny job. "We need an answer today." "Let's continue on WhatsApp" or "Message our manager on Telegram," right after a DM.

The rule: real campaigns have timelines, but they don't need an answer in an hour, and they don't pay far above what the work is worth. Moving you to a private chat app removes every record and every protection. Pressure plus praise plus a too-big number is the pattern.

Score 1 if they rush you, the pay is wildly out of line with the work, or they push you to a private chat app before a contract exists.

Flag 5: No written terms

"We'll sort the details later." "Just film first and we'll talk rates." No written deliverables, no price, no payment date.

The rule: real brands put the deal in writing before you film. Deliverables, price, usage, deadline, payment date. If they dodge every time you ask, they either can't pay or don't plan to.

Score 1 if you don't have the price, deliverables, and payment date in writing.

Flag 6: "Paid" that isn't paid

"Buy the product yourself and we'll pay you back after you post." "You'll earn commission on every sale" with no fee. "Paid in exposure." "Paid" once you hit a view count they set.

The rule: paid means a fixed fee, in writing, for the work. Buy-then-reimburse puts all the risk on you, and the refund often never comes. Commission or view bonuses can sit on top of a fee, never instead of one if they call it a paid job.

Score 1 if "paid" turns out to mean you buy first, commission only, exposure, or payment that depends on numbers you don't control.

Flag 7: Content first, deposit never

"Post a story first so we can see how your audience reacts." "Send us a sample video for this product and we'll decide." For their product, with their script, before a deal.

The rule: a portfolio is how brands judge you. Your past work is the test. A brand asking for a free custom video, or a free post on your account, before agreeing to pay is getting free content. Sometimes that's all they ever wanted.

Score 1 if they want custom content or a post before you have a signed deal.

Your score

One flag overrides the score: if Flag 1 (they ask you to pay) or Flag 2 (login, download or "sign in to see the brief") is true, treat it as a scam no matter what the total is. Those two are the ones that cost you money or your account.

What to do right now if you already clicked or paid

1. Change your passwords on the account involved and your email. Turn on two-factor authentication.
2. Log out of all sessions in your account settings.
3. If you paid, contact your bank or payment app right away and ask about a dispute.
4. Report it to the platform where they contacted you.
5. Screenshot everything before they delete it.

Then breathe. Scammers target creators because creators are hopeful. That's not a flaw. It just means you need a checklist.

What a real offer looks like, from the person sending it

When we send a creator an offer, it has:

• Who we are, from a company email address.
• The product and what we want made.
• The fee, or a request for your rate.
• Usage: where the video will run and for how long.
• Timeline and payment terms.
• A contract before filming.

That's it. No fees, no downloads, no pressure. If an offer has all of that, it's probably real. If it's missing most of it, run it through the checker again.