Since 2012, the browser extension Honey has been around to give its users the best deals on the internet. Atleast, that’s how it was known until recent allegations came up rebranding Honey as one of the biggest influencer scams of all time.

Honey has been known to search the internet to find people the best deals. Working alongside other companies with just a click of a button anyone could save money, is what everyone tho

With less than two weeks before the end of 2024, New Zealand-based Youtuber, MegaLag, took the internet by storm with his video, “Exposing the Honey Influencer Scam.” He brought to light how Honey was scamming both its users and their sponsored influencers out of millions of dollars.

Honey has been huge with their advertisements for years, especially through Youtube. They have sponsored many channels from all different sides of Youtube including several of their biggest names such as MrBeast, Emirichu, Pewdiepie and Pokimane.

In his video, MegaLag reveals how it was made possible for Honey to con everyone connected to it, the largest deception being online shoppings last click attribution. This is where all credit for a purchase going through is allocated to the last touch point and service used by the buyer. The influencers affiliate links in description is what allows them to make money on any purchase. However, with Honeys coupon pop ups, it allows for them to get the last click, stealing the commission price.

Whenever Honey couldn’t find a discount to apply, a pop up would appear apologizing. Through this, if the user clicked the words, “got it” to remove it, the last click attribution would still be applied for Honey.

The other way Honey was conning its influencer was through their Honey Gold membership. MegaLag showed that when he didn’t use honey for the purchase, and only used his affiliate link, he made $35. When using Honey Gold, he only made 85 cents.

However, Honey was scamming its users with these coupons at the same time. It was believed that Honey would find the best coupons, when in reality it would send specific ones. The companies that worked with Honey were given the ability to choose the highest discount a person could receive through the extension. While users believed they were receiving the best possible deal, they were actually getting what the companies were willing to give.

Honey has allegedly been scamming its users and influencers for the past 13 years, costing people millions of dollars.