The Wild World of Fake SEO Agencies: Exposing Freelance Reseller Fraud

Alright, let’s get into it. We all know the drill: you're minding your own business when an unsolicited spam email lands in your inbox. The subject line usually promises something about SEO, guest posts, or boosting your site's visibility. You open it (why do we always open it?), and there it is:

Hi,

I am an SEO Specialist at RAI DIGITAL AGENCY, and we offer Guest posting services. I visited your website, and it suits our needs perfectly.

I am interested in publishing my written article on your website. Could you please consider adding my guest post with a do-follow link? Kindly let me know about the further proceedings. Payment will be made via PayPal.

Looking forward to your positive response.

Thank you

Sounds professional enough, right? Wrong.

Here’s the kicker: RAI DIGITAL AGENCY isn’t a real agency. Nope. Not even close. What we’re dealing with here are SEO freelancers disguised as “agencies,” selling the same tired services through a reseller program.

They’re not offering something groundbreaking; they’re middlemen passing off someone else’s SEO package as their own. It's a house of cards, and if you look closer, you'll notice the cracks immediately.

Let’s take a stroll through their supposed website: RAI Digital Agency. You’re greeted with the usual buzzwords—"growth," "organic traffic," "top rankings"—but something just feels off. So, you scroll down to the footer (pro tip: always check the footer first), and there it is:

• Address: 22th Streets, Colorado
• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: +92 3439135686 - < Pakistan

Wait, what? Let’s break this down.

Address: "22th Streets" in Colorado

First of all, it’s not even 22nd—it’s "22th." Sure, that’s a typo anyone could make, but for a “top-tier” SEO agency? Red flag number one.

Second, a quick look at the top of the page claims the agency is located on Rock Street, San Francisco.

Now, last time I checked, San Francisco and Colorado are not even remotely close. Did the agency pick its office location by throwing darts at a map of the U.S.?

Phone Number: Pakistan, Really?

But it gets better. Scroll down, and the contact number listed has a +92 country code. That’s not Colorado, folks—it’s Pakistan. Not that there's anything wrong with a global team, but let’s be honest: how many agencies have their HQ in Colorado, a secondary office in San Francisco, and their customer support routed through Pakistan? The incoherence is real.

So, What’s Going On Here?

What we’re looking at is a classic case of a freelance SEO reseller program pretending to be an agency. These operators don’t actually have an in-house team, office space, or any of the shiny things they claim.

They’re just individual freelancers who’ve signed up for an SEO reseller service, repackaging it, and sending you cold emails, hoping you’ll bite. They want you to think they’re legitimate. But they’re not. They're selling you a dream backed by no real infrastructure or accountability.

The Takeaway

Look, we’re all trying to build our businesses here. But beware of these so-called digital agencies. They’re not here to help, and they are not an agency —they're here to make a quick buck off an SEO reseller program. Next time one of these emails shows up in your inbox, do yourself a favour: scroll down to the footer, Google the address, and don’t forget to check that phone number. If it doesn’t add up, hit delete.

You can also check the website’s digital footprint. If they claim to be a popular or successful agency, it should show up in their marketing. A quick and easy way to confirm their legitimacy is by plugging the agency’s URL into a free backlink checker tool like Ahrefs. If the site has no backlinks or digital mentions, it's a clear sign you’re dealing with a ghost agency—nothing reputable about them at all.