Share a cute photo of your pet on your Instagram story - and support a major online scam in the process

Today's social scams are increasingly complex and clever, and are not afraid to exploit conservation or equality movements. Today, not only media literacy but also social media literacy is needed.

We'll plant 1 tree for every pet picture.

This Instagram promise quickly became a viral phenomenon. In just a few hours, 4.1 million users took part in the challenge by sharing a picture of their pet on their Instagram story.

And no wonder, because who wouldn't want to save nature by sharing cute dog pictures? Especially since Instagram's new Add Your Own feature has made it super easy to participate.

Unfortunately, by participating in a chain letter promising to plant trees, despite a really cute dog photo, you're not actually helping to plant a single tree. Instead, you are spreading another seme scam.

Who will plant the 4.1 million trees?

Post a picture of your pet and we'll plant a tree.

But who is this "we"? That's what the Instagram chain letter doesn't reveal.

In practice, it could be any Instagram user. Normally, the Add Your Own feature will tell you who started the chain letter, but in this case the person promising to plant the trees remains obscure, as the user in question has probably deleted their Instagram account.

Yet the credit for starting the chain letter has already been claimed by a company called Plant A Tree co. at least. On its Instagram account, it tells the endearing story of how a much more moderate campaign got out of hand after the first ten minutes. And even though the company removed the campaign, it continued to take on a life of its own in people's stories towards the viral phenomenon. According to the organisation, they also do not appear as the initiator of the chain letter "due to an Instagram bug". That's why they're asking people to share their post, so that awareness of the company spreads, and they can actually plant those four million trees.

Plant a tree co -Instagram post saying they would be the starters of an "Add yours" pet chain.

At the moment, the Plant A Tree Co publication in question already has more than 143 000 likes. However, the company has already distinguished itself with similar "like and share" campaigns in the past. It all started around the time of the widely publicised Australian wildfires in early 2020. Since then, Plant A Tree Co. has gained followers and attention by supporting Black Lives Matter, Stop Asian Hate and gender equality movements, among others.

With their successful social media campaigns, the companies already have over one million Instagram followers. In comparison, large and well-recognised tree planting environmental organisations and projects such as One Tree Planted, Eden Reforestation Projects or, for example, WWF Finland are far behind Plant A Tree Co in terms of followers.

From small scams grows a big stream

But how can you support Plant A Tree Co's planting efforts - more tangibly than by posting a chain photo of your pet? The answer can be found on the company's very simple website. Unlike recognised environmental organisations, Plant A Tree Co's website does not bore visitors with a detailed description or tracking of its planting projects. Instead, it quickly directs visitors to an online shop where they can order necklaces.

The sale of necklaces with names such as "Good Vibes Only", "Good Luck" and "Balance" promises a dollar to support various conservation and equality organisations. The price of a single necklace is $29.95, but right now (that is, for the next 47 minutes - and surprisingly, for the next 47 minutes and the next 47 minutes after that) the company is offering the product for the price of a nominal postage fee ($8.95). Good deal, right!

However, a reverse image search on Google reveals that you can get exactly the same necklaces from the AliExpress online store for less than $2 including postage. This is a so-called dropshipping scam. In this case, Plant A Tree Co. will probably never see the necklaces, but will place orders directly with the trinket manufacturer, pocketing a premium of just over seven dollars. That might not sound like a lot, but if even 1% of Plant A Tree Co's one million Instagram followers order a necklace, that's more than $70,000 in revenue. And because the company's tangible charitable activities are so poorly reported, it's unlikely that any of the pennies will end up planting trees. 

Plant a Tree and AliExpress sale ads for the same piece of jewellery, but with completely different prices.

In addition, providing your contact and credit card details to such a dubious site is always a risk.

Soma scams are becoming harder to detect

Usually the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to social media scams are modern Nigerian emails, where people or bots with poorly made fake profiles try to steal the money of the unsuspecting. 99% of people will recognise these scams immediately, as they are designed to find the most gullible and easily fooled one per cent of the masses.

However, in recent years, scams have become increasingly sophisticated. For example, Nigerian scams that exploit romantic sentiments have moved to Tinder, and from simple text-based chats to fake video chats based on stolen Instagram stories from celebrities, which add credibility to the scam.

With a million Instagram followers, a scam like Plant A Tree Co. already requires a great deal of planning. It taps into people's will to support noble causes such as nature conservation or human rights. With ingenious, easily shareable and suitably credible social media campaigns, it attracts a huge amount of attention. And when the attention is big enough, it only takes one in 100 users to fall for the scam.

And what's more: these scammed people don't even realise they've been scammed. They are happily carrying around their necks a cheaply produced trinket that they believe they got for an obscenely low price, while supporting a good cause.

If we used to worry about people's media literacy, we should now also pay attention to their social media literacy. Because if something is too good to be true, it's better to swipe left.