Perhaps Zach 's tweet still arround of the crypto paid influencers is still arround.
Proven Examples of Click Farms on Social MediaClick farms are operations where groups of people or automated setups generate fake engagement like likes, views, shares, and followers on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (now X), WeChat, and others. These are often run in low-wage countries and have been exposed through raids, investigations, and journalistic reports. Here are some well-documented cases:Thailand WeChat Click Farm Raid (2017): Thai police raided a farm operated by three Chinese nationals, uncovering hundreds of cell phones and over 347,000 SIM cards used to inflate likes and views on WeChat. The setup was in a house, with devices rigged to simulate real user activity.
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Vietnam Click Farms (2023-2024): British photographer Jack Latham gained access to multiple farms in Vietnam, documenting rooms filled with racks of smartphones running scripts to boost engagement on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. These operations resembled small startups, with workers managing devices to create artificial likes and comments for clients including influencers and businesses.
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Here's a photo from one such farm:
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China Mobile Click Farms (2017 and Ongoing): Multiple reports have shown farms in China using walls of old smartphones to farm likes and reviews on social media and e-commerce sites. One exposed operation involved small offices with teams manually or automatically generating engagement. Similar setups have been linked to broader ad fraud.
cheq.ai
Visuals from these include:
finance.yahoo.com
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India Social Media Farm in Delhi (2017): Authorities busted a farm boosting fake likes and followers on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, using dozens of devices in a makeshift setup.
cheq.ai
Central Asia Instagram Operation (Recent Years): An uncovered network ran thousands of fake accounts for likes, follows, and content posting, using proxy servers and SIM cards to evade detection.
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These examples highlight how click farms operate globally, often for as little as a few dollars per thousand interactions, impacting everything from influencer metrics to political campaigns.
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Tweet Exposing a Spreadsheet of Paid InfluencersYes, there are several posts on X exposing spreadsheets of paid influencers. A prominent one is from blockchain investigator ZachXBT on September 1, 2025, who leaked a price sheet listing over 200 crypto influencers, their wallet addresses, and promotion rates from an undisclosed project. He noted that fewer than 5 of the 160 who accepted deals disclosed the posts as ads.
@zachxbt
The post included screenshots of the spreadsheet and garnered millions of views.
@Cointelegraph
Another example from January 2025 exposed influencers in an Excel sheet filled by ad agencies, describing their traits and rates.
@eurodgo