Polymarket's viral videos showed people winning big, but the bets were fake

Polymarket paid online creators to post deceptive videos showing lucrative bets filmed on near-perfect copies of the Polymarket website featuring fake trades and winnings. A Wall Street Journal investigation found that none of the roughly $1.9 million in bets shown across 1,105 videos were real. A marketing contractor amplified the creator videos through social media, and the company instructed creators not to disclose their paid status.

Source: Ars Technica | 2026-06-22