How to Spot a Grifter: The Internet’s New Age Charlatans

The digital age has birthed a new breed of grifter-savvy operators who leverage inflammatory rhetoric, divisive opinions, and fearmongering to generate clicks, cash, and clout. Internet grifters traffic in chaos, manipulating emotions to draw engagement and financial support. They cloak their schemes in the trappings of activism, expertise, or truth-telling, but their goal is uniformly self-enriching. Here's how to spot them and avoid falling victim to their hustle.

1. Outrage Is Their Currency

Grifters realize that outrage and terror do excellent business. They create material bound to elicit the deepest emotion that plays nicely with the facts' manipulation in order to create further outrage. Whether through salacious headlines, incendiary tweets, or fear-mongered videos, their messaging will rarely be about solving-but is in most cases about keeping an audience hooked on drama.

Things to look for:

Titles or posts with phrases like “You Won’t Believe,” “They Don’t Want You to Know,” or “This Changes Everything.”

Constant attacks on groups, individuals, or institutions without constructive dialogue.

A pattern of stoking division rather than promoting understanding.

2. They’re Always Selling Something

Grifters know how to monetize outrage. After firing up their audience, they often pitch products, services, or donation links. Whether it's a dubious "exclusive" subscription, overpriced merchandise, or a crowdfunding campaign with vague goals, the grifter's main priority is funneling followers' emotions into financial support.

What to look for:

Frequent calls to action like "Support my work by donating," or "Get this exclusive product.

Expensive courses or webinars that promise secret knowledge or guaranteed success.

Limited transparency about how funds are used or why they're needed.

3. Expertise Without Credentials

Internet grifters often present themselves as experts in a field, yet their credentials don't hold up under scrutiny. They may claim insider knowledge, cherry-pick data, or misrepresent facts to bolster their credibility. These self-proclaimed gurus thrive on the assumption that their audience won't fact-check them.

What to look for:

Claims of authority without verifiable qualifications or professional experience.

Vagueness or refusal to engage with legitimate criticism.

Overuse of buzzwords, conspiratorial language, or pseudoscience.

4. Contradictions and Hypocrisy

A grifter's narrative often bends to serve their interests, leading to glaring inconsistencies in their stance. They may present themselves as champions of the people while living lavishly, or as truth-tellers while spreading misinformation.

What to look for:

Messaging shifts to reflect new trends or opportunities for profit. Lifestyle choices that run in direct opposition to their proclaimed values, such as talking about fighting for the underprivileged while sporting the latest designer clothes. Hypocrisy, including berating others for the very things they themselves do.

5. They're Always the Victim

Grifters often play the martyr card, claiming they are being silenced, canceled, or targeted by powerful forces. This creates a sense of urgency in their followers, encouraging more support and engagement.

What to look for:

Frequent posts about being "censored" or "under attack" without concrete evidence.

Claims that critics are part of a larger conspiracy against them.

A constant plea for protection or loyalty from their audience.

6. Cultivating an "Us vs. Them" Mentality

Grifters thrive on tribalism. By framing themselves as part of an in-group fighting against a dangerous out-group, they create a sense of belonging among followers. This tactic isolates their audience from dissenting views and reinforces loyalty.

What to look for:

Language that paints dissenters as enemies or untrustworthy.

Repeated emphasis on loyalty to the grifter or their cause.

Attempts to discredit or demonize alternative perspectives.

7. Engagement Metrics Over Meaningful Action

For grifters, the endgame is clicks, likes, and shares-not real change. They may promise action but almost never deliver. Instead, they move quickly from one outrage cycle to the next, ensuring their audience stays emotionally invested and engaged.

What to look for:

A lack of tangible results despite years of activism or fundraising.

Prioritizing viral content over actionable solutions.

Disinterest in collaboration with credible organizations or experts.

How to Protect Yourself

Fact-Check Claims: Check information with trusted independent sources before believing or sharing.

Follow the Money: Track who is giving donations and/or paying for what.

Don't Be Emotionally Reactive: Stop yourself from immediately responding to inflammatory information. Grifters depend on this impulsive action.

Demand Transparency: Trust individuals or organizations upfront about their intentions, funding, and goals.

Diversify Perspectives: Look for different perspectives; keep yourself out of echo chambers.

The internet has indeed made it easier than ever to reach a wide audience, but it's also empowered the people with ways to discern fact from fiction. You can avoid falling prey to the manipulations of digital charlatans if you remain vigilant and question motives. Remember, the louder the rhetoric, the more likely there's a profit motive hiding behind it.