Don’t Believe This Terrible TikTok Advice About Getting ‘Free Money’ From Business Credit Cards

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A video with dangerous credit card advice has made the rounds on TikTok. See why you need to be careful about taking financial advice from social media. 

Credit card advice from TikTok can be hit or miss. Credit card advice from a TikToker who films from his mom’s pool and brags about his “$100,000 watch” is pretty much always a miss. In a video that went viral recently, a TikToker claimed that he was able to get free money by using business credit cards. It’s a terrible idea, and the perfect example of how financial advice on social media can be dangerous.

The “free money” hack, as explained on TikTok

While the original TikTok video seems to have been deleted, it was shared in a tweet by TTI (@TikTokInvestors), an account that shares cringey financial content.

The TikToker in the video claims that while you’re responsible for debt on personal credit cards, you’re not responsible for debt on business credit cards. He then explains that his method is to:

Open a business that he doesn’t care about.Open a business credit card for that business.Max out the credit card.Declare bankruptcy with that business.

According to this self-declared “entrepreneur,” he was able to get a high enough credit limit to buy a $100,000 watch (yeah, right). He also said he’s going to sell the watch to a jeweler for $80,000.

Voila, free money! If it sounds suspiciously easy, it’s because there are some massive holes in this scheme.

There’s no “get out of debt free” card

Contrary to what this TikToker said, you are responsible for debt on business credit cards. If you want to confirm, check the terms. These will say that you agree to be personally responsible for paying all balances incurred on the card.

This is also fraud, and to make it even worse, it’s blatantly obvious fraud. Credit card companies and bankruptcy courts know what they’re doing. They aren’t going to be fooled by such a basic scheme.

Here’s what would actually happen to someone who tried skipping out on a debt this way:

The card issuer would come after you (not just your business) for the credit card debt.Your own credit score would take a huge hit from defaulting on the card’s payments.The debt would go to collections if you didn’t pay, and you could get sued.

Be careful who you trust about money

After getting called out for fraud, the TikToker who shared this idea posted a follow up claiming it was all a joke. That may be true — he wouldn’t be the first to try getting attention this way.

Either way, content like this demonstrates why you should be very careful about getting financial advice on social media. Many of the people sharing advice don’t have your best interests at heart. They’re in it for the views and to sell you something, like a forex trading course or an overpriced life insurance policy. Sometimes it’s obvious, but not always.

Consider sticking to more trustworthy sources of advice, such as reputable financial websites. If you like social media and want to use it to learn about personal finance, check out the background of the content creator to see if they’re legit. Anyone can go on social media and say they’re a millionaire. Don’t take their claims at face value until you’ve done a little more digging.

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