/Tech4h ago

WSJ investigation finds Polymarket used dummy websites and staged videos to target restricted US users

Story Overview

Polymarket paid mostly young creators to flood social feeds with staged clips of massive wins on lookalike dummy sites that mirrored the real platform but used test data and altered results, all aimed at U.S. users blocked since 2022 yet reachable through workarounds.

3365.1K8701.4K689.8K

#585

Original post

Neil Mehta@neilmhta

NEW investigation for @WSJ:

- Polymarket is paying scores of offshore clippers to quietly promote its international exchange in the U.S. (though it’s banned from letting Americans trade on the platform) - Polymarket made dummy websites mirroring its real site, then paid creators to use the fake site and pretend to win thousands. - Creators altered headlines and used outdated footage to imply they won bets—even when they often lost - Polymarket paid Adin Ross multiple millions to promote the site

All that and more in my latest story with @ByKLong @ceostroff @brenna__smith

6:31 PM · Jun 20, 2026 · 638.7K Views

Policy Risk

Staged footage hid real loss rates

Review of over a thousand clips showed creators celebrating nearly a million dollars in fictional payouts while identical real bets would have lost more than 166k, with many videos pushing phrases like free money and tactics that echoed manipulation.

Open Question

Audit and oversight remain open

The company says it will review promotional content but has shared no timeline, spend totals, or creator count, leaving unclear how many mirror sites still circulate or what regulators will do next.

Sentiment

Many users praised the WSJ reporting on Polymarket's fake winning videos and offshore tactics while others called the company's staged promotions fraudulent and disgusting.

Pos

43.6%

Neg

56.4%

81 comments with sentiment.

Cluster Engagement

Digg Deeper

No Digg Deeper questions have been answered for this story yet.

THE WALL STREET JOURNALVia

#1011

Posts from X

Most Activity

VIEWS19.8KBOOKMARKS95RETWEETS28

Neil Mehta@neilmhta

Check out the full story here (gift link): https://www.wsj.com/business/media/polymarket-social-media-bets-prediction-market-441cdeb5?st=57dR12&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

20h19.8K17095

LIKES173

rat king 🐀@MikeIsaac

excellent story. truly awful stuff

https://www.wsj.com/business/media/polymarket-social-media-bets-prediction-market-441cdeb5?st=oE9Lbv&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

2h11.2K17348

REPLIES11

Martin Shkreli@MartinShkreli

lead nowhere good: uh yeah like jail. this is basic fraud.

now, jail is not THAT bad but it is case-specific:

1) do you like to read a lot? ✅ 2) do you like rap music and thug culture?✅ 3) are you in a gang or a member of a violent ethnicity not to be fked with? ✅

kristin eberth@kristinelizx

this is such bad juju, building a fake dupe site and getting creators to pretend to make bank trading on it

growth shortcuts like this may feel clever in the moment but they lead nowhere good

1h19.1K8811

Bob Pickard@BobPickard

@neilmhta @ByKLong @WSJ Great reporting - and yet another example of how free societies benefit from serious journalism.

17h9.1K1411

Richard Hanania@RichardHanania

https://www.wsj.com/business/media/polymarket-social-media-bets-prediction-market-441cdeb5?st=oRKNGg&reflink=article_copyURL_share

8h4.3K223

felpix@felpix_

@neilmhta @WSJ W reporting!

18h7.6K43

al huxley@reztahla

@neilmhta @WSJ 🤔

16h2.1K321

Neil Mehta@neilmhta

@BobPickard @ByKLong @WSJ thank you very much!

17h8.1K41

Greg@gregdotxyz

@neilmhta @dan_bernstein_ @WSJ Holy fucking shit Polymarket has a marketing department. This just in to WSJ

20h1.3K103

JohnL10@ineedsow

@neilmhta @WALLACHLEGAL @WSJ Keep going. Dig deeper. I posted about this last year but nobody cared.

18h2.3K142

mark@mricci0x

@neilmhta @WSJ No shit. You know how many crypto influencers switched to gambling promos once the crypto KOL scam dried up. Know a few guys personally that were making more money in a few months than many make in a year at a normal job by posting BS wins. Filthy.

19h3K30

Carlo DeAngelo@aibrandscaling

@neilmhta @WSJ Corrupt company paying Adin Ross millions?

I'm shocked!

17h2K26

Furkan Gözükara@FurkanGozukara

@neilmhta @WSJ Gambling ads are banned same way polymarket should be

It is a gambling site

11h462141

Neil Mehta@neilmhta

@felpix_ @WSJ 🙏 thank u!

18h7K16

Juxhin Çela 🇪🇺🇺🇦@JuxhinCelaEU

This is harassment of a company @neilmhta.

They are not doing something ‘immoral’, the bad side is the state who doesn’t recognise the reality and the bad medias who are discriminating the company and not those are blocking it and the reasons.

How maybe the best newspaper out there is totally missing the point…

16h893