Chapter 1: The Download That Ruined My Day… Kinda
It all started with a push notification I didn’t remember asking for.
“💸 Earn $5 Instantly Reviewing Apps! No Experience Needed.”
Sounds like the usual scam, right? But I clicked. Of course I clicked. Curiosity wasn’t just killing the cat — it was choking my wallet, too. The app was called RevuYou, and it looked… okay. Too okay. Almost like a parody of every fake “earn money” app I’d ever seen.
Bold fonts. Neon green buttons. Stock photos of people smiling with $100 bills fanned out like poker hands.
And yet… I downloaded it. Because deep down, I’m the kind of person who’ll risk data privacy for a quick buck and a story to tell.
Boy, did I get both.
Chapter 2: The Scam Part — Classic Trap, Modern Flavor
Once installed, RevuYou asked for the usuals: username, email, PayPal. Then it offered a simple deal:
“Review 3 of our partner apps and earn $5 per review. Simple. Honest. Fair.”
I picked the first partner app: FitFairy — a calorie counter with glowing reviews and promises to “make your metabolism feel like it’s on Red Bull.”
I downloaded it, spent 10 minutes tapping through fake workouts, and left a glowing review, as instructed.
Second app? CryptoCowz — a weird pixel-art NFT cow breeding game (because of course that exists). Again, downloaded. Reviewed. Done.
Third one: LoanSavior. Now this one was sketchy. It asked for my ID, phone number, and even tried to scan my face.
🚨 RED FLAG.
I backed out. But when I returned to RevuYou to claim my $10 (I skipped the third app), I found this lovely message:
❌ “Incomplete Tasks. Balance Locked.”
Balance: $0.00
Mood: Also $0.00
I got scammed. Not in the “they stole my money” way — but in the “you wasted your time and dignity” kind of way.
Or so I thought.
Chapter 3: 48 Hours Later… A Ping from the Scam Lords
I forgot about RevuYou. Uninstalled. Left a salty tweet.
Then — two days later — I got a PayPal notification.
“You received $15 from RevuYou Corp.”
No explanation. Just $15 in my account.
I stared at the screen. Surely a mistake?
Then came the email:
“Hello Reviewer,
We noticed you uninstalled RevuYou. Would you like to get paid to write an honest review about your experience? Good or bad — we’ll pay for it. $15 flat rate. No edits. Just truth.”
Regards,
The RevuYou Team
(Yes, this is real)”
WHAT. THE. FUDGE.
Chapter 4: They Paid Me to Trash Them?!
So I wrote a review. Not a fake glowing one — a brutally honest, borderline roast of a review:
“RevuYou scammed me. Then paid me.
It’s like a con artist slipping you a tip after pickpocketing you.”
I expected them to ghost me or at least ban me from ever using the platform again.
Instead?
They published my review on their site — featured, even. Title: “The App That Scammed Me Then Paid Me — A True Story.”
It got shared. On Reddit. On X (formerly Twitter). Even on a blog called “ScamTech Chronicles.”
I didn’t just get paid. I went viral — a little.
Chapter 5: The Business Model No One Asked For
Let’s pause.
Why would any app pay someone to admit it scammed them?
So I did what any overthinking nerd would do: I researched.
Turns out, RevuYou isn’t a normal reward app. It’s part of an experimental feedback marketplace, where companies test responses to negative reviews — and pay users for unfiltered opinions.
They want you to feel tricked. They design friction points to see how you react. Then they pay you for the psychological data.
Yes. You read that right.
They turn bad UX into valuable data.
In other words: Reverse psychology monetization.
Chapter 6: Meet the Developer (Yes, I DMed Them)
I tracked down one of the app’s developers — a guy on LinkedIn named Evan Schertz, UX Researcher, PhD dropout.
He replied to my message within a day.
“Yeah, RevuYou is a real app. No, we’re not trying to scam people — we’re studying reactions to digital betrayal. We call it ‘consentful deception’. Weird? Maybe. Effective? Definitely.”
He even sent me a paper they’re working on, titled:
“Digital Disappointment as a Feedback Channel: Gamifying Frustration for Profit.”
I swear I’m not making this up.
Chapter 7: I Went Deep — And Got Paid Again
After the review, RevuYou offered me more “missions”:
- Try a fake login loop on a new app and report your rage.
- Submit a screenshot of a 404 error.
- Rate your patience level after 3 fake captchas.
It was like psychological warfare turned into a side hustle.
And the kicker? They paid $5 to $20 per task. No catch. No scam — this time.
Total I earned: $63.50
Total dignity lost: Irrelevant.
Chapter 8: Can You Join? Yes, But…
You’re probably wondering:
“Where can I get scammed and paid too?!”
Well, RevuYou isn’t on the App Store anymore. It’s gone invite-only. You need a referral code, and you have to sign an NDA (yeah, seriously).
But other apps are starting to copy the model. I found at least 3 similar platforms:
- Fakelytics – An app that fakes broken features and pays you to rant.
- BugMeNow – Sends you glitchy apps and gives points for feedback.
- ErrorEarn – You rate fake pop-ups and earn gift cards.
This is becoming a weird micro-economy:
The Rage-to-Earn Revolution.
Chapter 9: The Ethics — Is This… Okay?
Let’s address the flaming elephant in the room:
Is it ethical to intentionally frustrate users for profit?
RevuYou says yes — as long as users know (eventually) and get paid.
But here’s the truth:
Most of us don’t read terms. We don’t expect apps to lie first, then reward later.
Yet somehow… I’m not mad anymore.
Maybe that’s the point.
Chapter 10: Final Verdict — Scam? Social Experiment? Both?
RevuYou scammed me. Then paid me. Then asked me to write about it. Then paid me again.
I still don’t know how to feel — but my wallet is $63.50 heavier, and I’ve never had this much fun writing a review.
This isn’t your average “get paid to review” gimmick. It’s a whole new genre:
Get Paid to React.
React to nonsense. React to lies. React to frustration.
And maybe — just maybe — laugh your way to the bank.
Written by the author, Fatima Al-Hajri 👩🏻💻
✅ Sources
- RevuYou Official Invite Page (Archived): https://revuyou.app/invite
- Interview with Evan Schertz, UX Researcher (Private LinkedIn chat, July 2025)
- Research draft: “Digital Disappointment as a Feedback Channel” (Schertz, et al.)
- Reddit thread: “Did RevuYou really pay you to trash them?” – /r/WeirdApps
- My PayPal screenshot (on file)
- ErrorEarn & BugMeNow: User forums on X and Discord (2025)
- CryptoCowz App (Google Play, possibly removed)
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