How do you protect yourself from brand deal scams?

Verify the brand is real: check the email domain, look them up, confirm through their official channel. Impersonating real brands is the classic scam.

Start by verifying the brand is actually who they claim. Check that the email comes from a real company domain, not a free Gmail pretending to be them, look up the person on the company site or LinkedIn and if anything is off, contact the brand through their official channel to confirm the offer is real. Impersonating real brands is one of the most common scams, the logo looks right, the email is fake. Two minutes of checking saves you here.

Then the hard rules. Never pay to get a deal, no real brand charges you a fee, a deposit or asks you to buy product first to be reimbursed later (you will not be). Never hand over passwords or full account access, a legitimate collaboration never needs your login. Be wary of offers that are too good for your size, of gift-only deals that demand a mountain of work and of any pressure to act immediately, urgency is a manipulation tactic. Get everything in writing before you create anything and if a deal smells wrong, it probably is. Trust that instinct, walking away from a scam costs you nothing, falling for one costs time, money or your account. This is general guidance, so when real money is involved, verify independently.

Cold offers in your DMs carry the most risk; brands that actively search discovery networks for creators are mostly established companies with real budgets and real intent. Getting found through a network like Flinque means more of your inbound comes from that safer direction rather than from strangers you have to vet from scratch.

Never pay to get a deal and never hand over passwords. No real brand charges you a fee or needs your login. Those two rules catch most scams.

Be wary of too-good offers, gift-only deals demanding heavy work and pressure to act fast. Trust your instincts. Walking away from a scam costs nothing.