For Extremely Online people, Caroline Calloway is the ultimate Extremely Online celebrity. And after a long hiatus, she’s back with another literal scam.
The social media star, occasional writer,(opens in a new tab) and self-proclaimed scammer(opens in a new tab) has long been the source of virality in more ways than one. The most infamous of these is a certain 2019 tell-all essay on The Cut(opens in a new tab) by her former ghostwriter and friend Natalie Beach. Calloway has dipped in and out of the spotlight but remains known on social media, with 649K followers(opens in a new tab) on Instagram — though her account currently sits devoid of posts.
But on Thursday, Calloway returned, introducing her latest venture: Caro Cards.
10 social media trends that changed the internet in 2022
In a series of Instagram Stories, Calloway offered her loyal followers the opportunity to buy (very lightly) personalised tarot cards for $15 each. This is essentially a card signed by Calloway with “a prediction for your new year as well as an intention for 2023”. Interested buyers can send the fee to Calloway’s PayPal to receive their own Caro Card in the mail.
Amazingly enough, Calloway said the quiet part out loud, labelling her latest initiative as “so scammy and on-brand”. This characteristic self-awareness is consistent throughout the Story: “Are you guys ready for a very strange and thrilling Christmas scam……?” she asks in one post. Calloway may be trolling but she really leans into it, even describing her business model: “In the past, I’ve usually stuck to scams with extremely high price points. (Think: $50 OnlyFans, $250 custom portraits; $150 Dreamer Bbs; $75 Snake Oil.)”
You’ve got to admire the brand. This isn’t the first time Calloway has addressed her reputation as a scammer. In 2019, she wrote for Refinery29(opens in a new tab): “Scamming is my brand right now, but it’s a narrative I would like to be excluded from. Maybe one day.” This narrative spread like the wildly-overpriced and aforementioned snake oil(opens in a new tab), and later lead to moments like her rebranded “creativity workshop” events, one of which was aptly entitled “The Scam”(opens in a new tab).
It appears Calloway is still in her scam era, and for just $15 you can fuel it.
