--- title: 'Can You Earn Just by Receiving SMS? The Truth About SMS Profit (Honest Review)' source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=bt87anoU37w' video_id: 'bt87anoU37w' date: 2026-08-17 duration_sec: 485 channel: 'PaidFromSurveys' --- # Can You Earn Just by Receiving SMS? The Truth About SMS Profit (Honest Review) > Source: [Can You Earn Just by Receiving SMS? The Truth About SMS Profit (Honest Review)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=bt87anoU37w) ## Summary This video provides an honest review of SMS Profit, an app that claims to pay users for receiving text messages. The creator, who has tested online money-making methods since 2016, investigates the app's legitimacy, earnings potential, and risks, ultimately advising against using it due to low pay and security concerns. ### Key Points - **SMS Profit Overview** [00:00] — SMS Profit is an app that pays users for receiving text messages. The concept is simple: install the app, keep it running, and earn per SMS received. - **Who Can Join and How It Works** [00:42] — The app is available in all countries. Users install the app, register, add phone numbers, and keep it running in the background to receive SMS messages. It's Android-only, and users may need to ensure the app isn't closed by the system. - **Business Model Explanation** [01:11] — The FAQ claims that SMS providers and mobile network operators need to send test messages to foreign countries to verify delivery routes. This practice is real and used by legitimate platforms like TelQ, Teslium, and CM.com. - **Lack of Verifiable Proof** [01:55] — The creator could not find any named clients, audits, or verifiable connections to mobile network operators for SMS Profit, raising doubts about the legitimacy of their claims. - **Earnings and Payout** [02:24] — Users earn 2 cents per SMS, with an average of one SMS per day. The payout threshold is $15, payable via PayPal or USDT, but reaching it would take several months. - **APK Installation Risk** [04:11] — The app is only available as an APK, not on the Google Play Store, which increases security risks. The creator dislikes this and considers it not worth the low pay. - **SMS Permission Risk** [04:55] — The app requires receive and read SMS permissions, potentially exposing bank passwords, 2FA codes, and account recovery codes. The app claims it only reads test message IDs, but this is unverified. - **Multiple SIM Cards Encouraged** [05:38] — Users are encouraged to run multiple SIM cards or add several phone numbers, which is unusual for legitimate route testing platforms that typically discourage this. - **Legal Exposure** [06:10] — Using consumer SIM cards for commercial message forwarding may violate carrier terms and could be considered fraud in some jurisdictions, even if the user is unaware. ### Conclusion The creator concludes that SMS Profit is not worth using due to the low earnings and significant security and legal risks. They recommend avoiding APK-based earning apps and suggest exploring other passive income opportunities. ## Transcript If you search for easy ways to earn money online,  you might have come across something called SMS   Profit. It's an app that claims to pay you just  for receiving text messages on your phone. So,   the idea definitely sounds simple. You just need  to install an app, keep it running, and then you   get paid per SMS you receive. But, I have been  testing ways to make money online since 2016, and   I can tell you this one immediately raised some  questions for me. So, I looked into it properly.   And in this video, I will show you exactly how  it works, what the earnings actually look like,   and most importantly, some things about how this  app works that I think everyone should know before   installing it. So, let's start by going over who  can join and what SMS Profit actually is. So,   from what I've been able to see, it is an app you  can join from all countries. And if you go to the   FAQ section, just come here for example, it it  doesn't really say that much. It says that you'll   just receive SMS and then you will get paid.  And if you then go to the FAQ section and read   a little bit more, then you can see they explain  a little bit more about why you can actually earn   because it's always good to think about when you  join an earning platform, is it a realistic way to   earn? How is it a business model for the platform  you're joining? Because if they cannot make money,   then you will also not get paid. So they do  explain a little bit more about that. The FAQ   section explains that a lot of SMS providers and  mobile network operators, they supposedly need   to send SMS test messages to foreign countries  to verify and ensure proper delivery of their   SMS routes. And let me just clarify that SMS  route testing is a real well doumented practice   in the telecom industry and there are legitimate  platforms like TelQ, Teslium and CM.com and more   where they do use real consumer phones in multiple  countries as test nodes to verify that messages   actually deliver. So the explanation they give  is definitely technically plausible. The problem   is that SMS profit used this explanation but  personally I have not been able to find any proof.   I could not find any named clients. I could not  find any audit. I could not find any verifiable   connection to actually mobile network operators.  If you've been able to find that, if you have   looked into it yourself, please feel free to share  below. I would love to hear, but I was not able   to. And that's definitely something to keep in  mind, but we will get back to more about that a   little bit later. Let's now talk a little bit more  about how it would work and how you would earn,   how much, and all that. So, if you decide to do  this, it is quite simple. You would just need to   download the app and then you would of course need  to register and then just keep it running in the   background. You just need to make sure that it's  actually running. It's only for Android devices   and sometimes an Android device can close down an  app that's just running in the background. So you   would need to check on this and how it would then  work is that basically see you just need to add   your phone number. You can add more phone numbers  and you can see some examples on it on the website   and I will explain later why I do not show it on  my own phone. So there is a good reason for this.   But overall, that's just how basically it is. You would  install it. You would add your phone numbers. You   would start receiving these text messages as long  as it is running in the background. And you can of   message? You know that's how they explain it.  I'm just telling you what they do. Then I will   a little bit later talk about some of my concerns  about this. But of course, if you do this, also   make sure to check what your phone plan actually  allows because maybe in some countries, for   some plans, it's not free to receive foreign text  messages and then of course it would not be worth   that doesn't make sense. But you can register as  many phone numbers as you want, but if a number is   registered on several accounts, then you will  both get banned. So keep that in mind. Also,   how much will you then earn? Well, you will get,  in general, 2 cents per text messages and once you   have actually received the payment, you can delete  the text message. You should not interact with it   But overall, you should not expect to get more  than one per day. They even say that in the FAQ   section and in general, maybe one per day. So,  of course, it will take a long time to earn. The   payoff threshold is only $15, but with 2 cents per  day potentially, you can still see that will still   take several months to earn. And when you reach  it, you can then get paid via PayPal or USDT. So,   the payout options are definitely great options  in my opinion. But let's now talk about why I   personally do not use this after having looked  into it when someone asked about it. And the   reason for this is that I personally do not like  apps that are only APK. And you can see that here   they say up here, download APK. That means you  need to install it manually. You cannot find   it through the Google Play Store. And this can  be risky and considering the extremely low pay,   it's not worth it anyway in my opinion. But let's  talk a little bit more about the potential risk.   I'm not saying that this will for sure happen on  SMS profit. This is a general thing to consider   with installing APK earning apps and particularly  apps where you supposedly can earn by receiving   text messages. And there are a few important  things you need to know. So first of all,   the SMS permission risk in my opinion is quite  serious. The app actually gets receive SMS and   read SMS access. So that means that potentially  it can read every SMS that arrives on your phone,   including bank passwords, two factor  authentication codes or account recovery   codes. SMS profit claims that it only reads these  test messages IDs. But again, it's not something   I've been able to verify. I also am not saying  that they will read it or anything. I'm just   saying in general when you allow an app to get  access to your text messages that is a risk and   it is only through APK. So it is not something  that have for example been checked by the Google   Play Store or something like that. So the second  thing to consider is that users are encouraged to   run multiple SIM cards or add several phone  numbers and in general I told earlier that   this route testing that is a real practice but  usually legitimate route testing platform they   do not need this and usually they would encourage  against it actually and they would only be with   one phone number. So there definitely are some  concerns there why they encourage this. What is it   actually used for? So the third thing is the legal  exposure for you as a user. Sometimes the carrier,   the phone company, there are terms and services  that typically prohibits using consumer SIM card   for commercial message forwarding. And in some  jurisdictions, receiving payment from potential   fraudulent telecom activity. I'm not saying that  here. Again, I'm talking general. I'm saying that   sometimes SMS forwarding like this and things  like that is used for fraud. And in general,   if you participate in that, in some jurisdictions,  that is seen as fraud or participating in fraud   even if you do not know about it. Again, I'm  not saying that this is what this is used for,   but just sharing what you need to consider in  general before using an earning opportunity like   this. So, overall, SMS Profit app, I understand  it's appealing. Personally, not one that I'll be   using. I don't like installing an earning app via  APK for the reason I just explained here. And when   you then combine that with the very low earnings,  it's just not worth it personally for me. If you   the comments below. I always love hearing from  you. Also, if you have any questions, anything,   I make sure to reply to every comment. But I do  have a list on my website of best passive income   free and easy to start with, you will usually  not earn a lot. But there are some where you can   earn a little bit extra that I prefer instead. I  will leave a link to that below. And in general,   if you're just interested in side hustles to make  some extra money, I also do have a list with more   than 20 legit free side hustles on my website. I  will leave a link to that below. And then here on   the screen, I will also leave one of the best  survey apps, so you can watch that next if you   want to see more about great way to earn some  extra money from your phone completely for free.   So check that out next. And finally, if this video  helped you, make sure to hit the like button. And   don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel  and hit the notification bell so you won't miss   out next time I release a video with tips and  tricks about different ways to make money online.