Instagram Sugar Daddy Scam BUSTED (And How The Scam Works Explained)

Dale
Born & raised in England, Dale is the founder of Living More Working Less & he has been making a living from his laptop ever since leaving his job as an electrician back in 2012. Now he shares what he's learned to help others do the same... [read more]

Have you been contacted by an Instagram sugar daddy offering to pay you money in return for “attention”?

Instagram Sugar Daddy…and are you now wondering if it’s actually legit or if it’s just some sort of scam that’ll end up costing you instead?

Well, the good news is that you’ve landed in exactly the right place to find out because my friend was just recently offered an “allowance” of $400 per week from a so-called Instagram sugar daddy & as a result, I decided to personally take a closer look into it to see what it’s all about…

The not-so-good news though is that as you’ve probably guessed, the offer of money isn’t legit… But if you stick around here & keep on reading I’ll explain exactly how the sugar daddy scam works (and how you can really get paid instead).

What Is The Instagram Sugar Daddy Scam?   |   How Does The Sugar Daddy Scam Work?   |   How To Legitimately Earn Money From Instagram   |   The Bottom Line

What Is The Instagram Sugar Daddy Scam?

Lately, it seems that a ton of females (and potentially some males too) have been receiving unsolicited messages in their Instagram DM’s from so-called wannabee sugar daddies who claim to be lonely & in need of attention.

The messages typically tend to claim that no sexual relationship or exchanges are necessary & nor are real-life meetups… The “daddies” claim that all they want is some attention & that they are willing to pay an “allowance” for it.

The red-flag though is the fact that the offered allowance is typically quite a large sum… Many people are being offered hundreds of dollars per week by complete strangers in return for some back & forth messaging which just seems a little “too good to be true”.

I mean don’t get me wrong though, sugar daddies are indeed real – and there are most certainly girls (and some guys) receiving large sums of money in return for various exchanges… However what you have to ask is, why would these guys offer the money to a complete stranger?

If they’re so desperate for attention then it would make more sense to find a sugar baby closer to home, right? Somebody that they could at least have the potential to maybe meet in the future… So that’s a red flag on its own.

The other red-flag, of course, is the amount itself which again it comes back to the “too good to be true” thing… And as the saying goes if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is… And in ~99% of these sugar daddy cases, it IS definitely too good to be true.

So how does the scam work? And how do they actually end up getting money from you? Keep reading because that’s exactly what I’m going to explain next…

How Does The Instagram Sugar Daddy Scam Work?

After doing some research into this Instagram sugar daddy scam it seems that there’s actually been quite a lot of people taken in by it already & that’s because many people can’t quite figure out how it could possibly be a scam…

I mean yes it might seem too good to be true… And yes the money might seem like an excessively large amount… But if somebody wants to pay YOU, then how on earth could you end up getting scammed from it?

You couldn’t, could you?

Well, unfortunately, you can, and it’s actually very cunning…

You see there’s actually a couple of variations of the scam but 9 times out of 10 the scam is done by using gift cards or prepaid cards, and in short, the “sugar daddy” basically tricks you into buying one of these & then wipes it clean of the cash.

Worse though they can even sometimes wipe it clean of the cash & then leave you in debt

Here’s How…

Initially, the scam will start with an unsolicited message that looks something similar to the one pictured below:

Instagram Sugar Daddy Message

Then, if you text (or reply) as instructed the so-called “sugar daddy” will tell you to do 1 of 2 things…

He will either tell you to provide your bank/card information so that he can set up a “regular deposit” into your account (but from here he will just proceed to do his best to empty your account & take your money)…

Or he will ask you to go out & purchase a gift card or prepaid debit card. As I mentioned a little bit above this is the most common version of the scam because most people are sceptical when it comes to giving out their banking/card information (and rightly so).

Prepaid Cards

And normally people would be sceptical about purchasing a prepaid card or gift-card when told to do so by a stranger online, but because of the large sums of money offered by these “men” many people try it, “just to see if it’s real”… Which is exactly what these guys prey on.

Unfortunately, though most gift-cards or prepaid cards can’t be purchased empty. Nearly all of them have to be loaded with some funds upon their purchase in order to activate them… Even if it’s just $5 or so.

The so-called sugar daddy though tells you that it’s okay and that you just need to cover the initial purchase of it & that he’ll then load it with money for you every week which you’ll be able to withdraw. More often than not he claims it’s so that you can both do the whole sugar thing privately, which seems like a pretty convincing excuse.

However, this is where the problem arises… Because in order for him to “load up the card with your allowance” you have to give him the details of the card and guess what he’s gonna do? He’s not gonna load anything up – he’s just gonna empty it.

Whether it’s $100, $10 or just $5, he’ll take it… And that’ll be the last you hear from him… You got scammed!

Well, that is if you’re lucky – because unfortunately there’s an even worse version of the scam which can actually leave you in debt.

In the worse version, the sugar daddy will ask for the details of the card or your bank account as mentioned above, but then he will claim to pay your allowance via cheque. He’ll tell you to pay it into one of those accounts & when you do it’ll appear to go in as promised.

The so-called sugar daddy will then pull the money out of your accounts & withdraw it in cash leaving the account empty… Which might not seem like much of a loss… Until you later find out that the cheque bounces, meaning you now owe the money that he withdrew.

So let’s say he gives you a cheque of $400… You deposit it, he withdraws $400, the cheque bounces and YOU now owe the card company or bank $400 because it was you who cashed the dodgy cheque.

Therefore hopefully now you can see why it’s really important to be SUPER careful when it comes to these sugar daddy things because it can turn into a real nasty scam that could leave you drastically out of pocket.

But providing you apply the good old saying that “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” then you should be okay… Unfortunately, though these types of scammers are great at capturing people in the most desperate of situations when they might not be thinking so straight…

Which brings me onto…

How To Really Make Money From Instagram

Well of course not ALL sugar daddies are scammers… Though 9 times out of 10 unsolicited ones will be, there are indeed some genuine sugar daddies in among the mix who genuinely will want to pay you money in return for some attention.

But how can you tell the real sugar daddies from the scammers?

Well, the simple rule is that you should NEVER have to go out and buy anything or do anything in order for them to pay you… And never give them your bank account information as a means of payment (regardless of how “safe” they try to convince you it is).

If they want to pay you then tell them you accept PayPal or Venmo only… That way you can’t get scammed… And never give them anything before you’re 100% confident that the payment has legitimately cleared.

But to be honest, finding a legitimate sugar daddy these days is gonna be pretty darn difficult. Yes, there are a lot of genuine sugar daddies only but there are also a lot of “sugar babies” too… So I would roll with an alternative way to make money instead.

One of the greatest ways to make money with Instagram instead of fooling around looking for sugar daddies is something called affiliate marketing… Which is basically where you promote products or services in return for commissions.

You’ve probably seen many of the celebs and influencers promoting stuff & getting paid for it – and you can too. What’s more, is that some of the commissions can literally range into hundreds (even thousands) of dollars per single sale.

That’s how some of those influencers are racking up tens of thousands per post… And despite what you might think it’s not actually all that difficult to get started with, especially since there are step by step training programs like Commission Academy which show you exactly how to do it.

So if you really want to make GOOD money from Instagram then I’d strongly advise putting the whole “sugar daddy” thing to one side & instead just joining Commission Academy & learning how to promote products as an affiliate instead.

It’s actually the same way I personally make most of my own money online & you can read how I made over $10,000 per month with it myself right here.

The Bottom Line

Hopefully, this post has been insightful for you & hopefully, you can now see how the Instagram sugar daddy scam works, but most importantly of all, I hope that this post has helped to prevent you from becoming a victim of the scam yourself.

From here though I would like you to do 2 things to try and help put an end to this scam… First of all could you please share this post on your social media profiles so that others are made aware that it’s happening (as most people just get scammed in silence due to the nature of the whole thing)…

And secondly, if you yourself have indeed been approached by somebody offering to pay you money who you think is actually just out to scam could you please leave details of your experience below to warn others. It’ll be a great help as sometimes these scammers get wise & switch up their scam to try & catch more people out. 🙂

Dale
About the Author:
Born & raised in England, Dale is the founder of Living More Working Less & he has been making a living from his laptop ever since leaving his job as an electrician back in 2012. Now he shares what he's learned to help others do the same... [read more]
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59 thoughts on “Instagram Sugar Daddy Scam BUSTED (And How The Scam Works Explained)”

    • The laws for minors getting scammed are the same as adults. A scam is a scam. Unless, of course, the perpetrator engaged in any sort of indecent activity then it would be a different ballgame entirely. My advice would be to report it & then you’ll be told what course of action to take.

      Reply
      • Generally, it is advisable to simply report the scam & move on rather than engaging in trying to catch people. The more time you spend engaging in a scam, the more likely you are to end up getting scammed. These people are very clever.

        Reply
        • How do they scam you through your Pay Pal ? I had one tell me he would pay me through pay pal . I seen that you said to ask to be paid through pay pal or Venmo but I still don’t trust him. I just wanted to know if there still away they can scam you through pay pal or Cash App.

          Reply
          • They can scam you via chargeback fraud by getting a refund on the transaction but also running a chargeback by claiming that they never made the payment. If it sounds too good to be true it’s because, 9 times out of 10, it is.

  1. Interesting. I’ve been getting lots of messages from sugar daddies and sugar mommies – they always ask for cash app (which isn’t available in my country) or PayPal – I don’t know if I can trust them or might get scammed. And there is no way to stay anonymous in my country. I’d love them to buy me amazon gift cards but they say they’ll only do cash app or PayPal. What should I do?

    Reply
    • I’d suggest you give my post above a read Sonja, it explains exactly how to differentiate a legitimate offer from a false one. You should NEVER have to pay any money upfront or give any details away. The bottom line is always that if it sounds too good to be true, it generally is.

      Reply
  2. I got this message on Instagram DM: “Hello, my name is Richard, I’m interested in getting to know you better, i will like to make you my sugar baby, I’m willing to always take very good care of you by always giving you, allowances of $200 weekly and also spoil you by giving you lots of gifts… feel free to text me on my cell (704) xxx-xxxx…Hoping to read from you soon” This is so crazy but real.

    Reply
  3. I got this message on Instagram.
    “Hey I’m sorry if this offends you, but i find you really attractive and I’d like you to be my sugar baby, just letting you know my intentions in case you will be interested.. We could talk terms weekly allowance later.. Just basically paying for your time.. No sexual relationships🙂”

    Insights?

    Reply
  4. WISH I WOULD HAVE READ THIS WEB PAGE 3 DAYS AGO! I SENT PICS OF MY SOCIAL ID AND BIRTHCERTIFICATE AND ACOUNT INFO!!! I now your thinking thats stupid n…. you would never do that……well if i had the time to tell you how it went down you would be like holly shit thats clever…..im telling you i really really need to know what i can do to prevent them from using my info and leaving me in dept. please help.

    Reply
  5. Exactly! When things sound too good to be true, they most likely are 🙂 I get sugar daddies DMs ALL THE TIME! They’re so annoying… I know for a fact they’re all a bunch of scammers. It’s crazy that this is where we are in life right now.

    Reply
  6. So this just happened to me and they sent me a check which I like qn idiot cashed and now I’m in a tight spot. I’ve already blocked the number hopefully it bounces and never goes into mu account but thank God I talked to my friends and saw this other wise I would have been down bad.

    Reply
  7. What about when they say to let them add their card to your instagram account so you can purchase anything you want? I mean yes, I always did my research, but I haven’t seen anyone talk on this approach?

    Reply
  8. A guy message me on tiktok saying he was a sugar daddy and asked me if I was interested in being his sugar baby. He told me how beautiful I was and said to me I’ll be happy if you text me back I’m a sugar daddy I’m interested in having you as my sugar baby and get you paid weekly my payment start from $2000 lmk if you’re interested ❤❤❤❤. He asked me for a copy of my driver’s license front and back. He also asked for my social. He told me that I needed to send him $150.00 then I would start getting paid. He told me if I do not pay that amount then he was going to get the FBI involved.

    Reply
  9. I’ve been receiving messages on my ig from sugar daddies claiming to pay me 2000$ every week for my attention 🤣
    There’s one that asked for my Facebook password and username to start paying me
    I just blocked all of them coz y would I pay for the services I’m gonna offer 🚮

    Reply
    • $2,000 every week just to give a bit of attention, LOL, that’d be nice, wouldn’t it? 😂 I’m glad that you were able to see it was a scam & blocked them.

      Reply
  10. They ALWAYS say they will send you money BUT you have to send them a clearance fee – They send u screenshots of the ‘payment’ pending – ALL SCAMMERS!

    Reply
  11. if they already have my banks details (bsb, account number and name) is this dangerous?? I didn’t know they could take money out of account in any way with only those details.

    Reply
  12. Thanks for this post. I was approached by a guy on a dating app asking to be my sugar daddy and he would pay me a weekly payment. I got an email from “cash App” saying I need to buy a google play card in order to receive the money. Instantly I researched this and found your blog. I knew something wasn’t right. More people need this information, especially those in a vulnerable state. He even sent videos of women thanking him for the money, crying and all. All I gave was my cash app tag and email. Hopefully he can’t get any further with just that information. Thank you

    Reply
  13. I tried to be sugar baby because honestly Im still a broke college student, but they asking 10 or 5$ but I know thats not how thing works. I never tell any of my details except on my paypal link, never give them any amount of money lol. Im desperate but not dumb. I do my research first, what I waste is my time looking for sugar daddy but turns out fake.

    Reply
  14. So I had a guy message me on Instagram doing the normal sugar daddy thing. He told me he’d pay me $3000 weekly.. just to talk to me, wayyy to good to be true. I read his terms and it included a $50 fee through cashapp. I’m asking because I told him I didn’t trust it so Im not sending any money. We kind of just threw the money out the window and we are actually having a normal conversation.. do you think this could still be a scam?

    Reply
  15. So basically everything that’s been said on here matches the post that the sugar mommy sent me. Except she asked if I had cash app or PayPal. In which I said yes to cash app. She said screenshot your cash tag and she’ll add me to her payroll number. What do ya think Dale?

    Reply
  16. Hey!

    I got a message rn, told me that i would get 3.000€ weekly. But i have to pay 59 pounds to his “manager” via Freinds & Family. He only asked me for my PayPal and nothing else. Scam? Sounds too good 😀

    Reply
  17. My friend had a massage from a bloke on Instagram asking her to be his sugar baby he sent her the terms and how much she would get he asked her to send him an EE card with for certain amount of money fortunately she did exactly what he asked she sent him the payment via PayPal on an EE card he then came back with some excuse saying she need to pay more money to him has she been scammed I told her I think he is scammer what do you think

    Reply
  18. This is the dm I got:

    Hello pretty 🥰😍
    I’m Michael how are you doing today? I was glancing through profiles when I saw your profile. So pretty I must confess you got a nice smile My Interest has been piqued and so I thought I should contact you. I would like to know more about you and see where it leads us I’m looking for a sugar baby to spoil with $3000 weekly via PayPal
    Get back to me if interested

    What do you think??

    Reply
  19. Yes I just had someone try to scam me.

    Hello beautiful omg 😮 you’re so gorgeous I’m very interested in you I want you to be my sugar baby indeed imma .spoil you 😩😩 your Beauty is driving me crazy imma get you paid $8000 weekly allowance if you just agree to be my sugar baby you have no problem with money anymore imma take care of all your needs you’re so beautiful I’m looking forward for you to message me back please babydoll

    Like that’s crazy then the next message was about me sending him 50$ from my cash app because it’s a business account and blah blah blah. I just laughed 😂😂😂

    Reply
  20. How about wehn he texted me he will pay me through PayPal and asks me to add him on WhatsApp. I would give him the number of a spare sim card, so it’s not my real number but I can use it for WhatsApp. For the paypal account I would create a new email and new PayPal account. Could this work?

    Reply
  21. Hi, some ‘sugar mommy’ texted me asking if I could give her my PayPal so she could pay me. She doesn’t want any additional information. What do you think?

    Reply
  22. I’m pretty sure I was going to get scammed myself haha ….
    He did have a profile picture but didn’t have any other photos and barely any followers!! The 1st msg went as follows…..

    Hello beautiful I love your profile picture specially I’ll be happy if you text me back I’m a sugar daddy I’m interested in having you as my sugar baby and get you paid weekly my payment start from $4000 lmk if you’re interested ❤❤❤❤

    So of course I was a little intrigued and we talked about msgs throughout the day. 4hours later I got …
    ***All I need is your trust, belief, loyalty, honesty a real commitment baby, then I’ll be responsible for all her needs, debt, and bills.. and then
    ***So do you have cashapp or paypal??
    I said yes both. But didn’t give it to him and also said well what do you want from me and he went about saying this….
    ***my former secretary tried to hack into my account so my bank froze my account for security purpose so I can’t do PayPal, cash app, Venmo or western union for now I only use insta meta Fb pay method of paying money through Insta to Insta and it would be deposited to your account bby. Do u understand? & am sending you 4000 soon ***
    So I went on saying.. I don’t have any account bc I just moved and I don’t trust any of this.
    He proceeded to send me a picture of where on instagram I would go and say
    *** That where am going to deposit the money to through Insta to Insta n I am going to set it up for you through your Instagram

    … uhm 🚫 🚫 🚫 BLOCKED RIGHT AFTER THAT 🚫 🚫 🚫
    HOPE THIS HELPS EVERYONE♡

    Reply
  23. I got Hi am a sugar daddy Would you let daddy to spoil you with $7000 as your weekly allowance just for your advice and attention❤️❤️❤️

    Reply
  24. A sugar daddy is not on social media looking for sugar babies. Please understand they have sites for them already. Most sugar daddies have wives and kids, they do not use it to mix family personal, and business personal. You don’t collide worlds. So if they are on Social networks, and you want to know if it’s real, keep it local, keep it clean, and keep it legal. Let them make offers first. Get names, numbers, and do your homework, don’t meet up with Ted Buddy.

    Reply

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