Is this real? Minnesota daycare purportedly advertises on Craigslist for child actors to prove it’s an actual daycare
In the wake of Minnesota’s Somali daycare fraud, Craigslist has now removed a post advertising for child actors to help prove to government officials a Minneapolis daycare center is an actual business.
Liz Collin of Alpha News highlighted the posting Sunday evening, with a purported offer of $1,500 per day for three days.
SUBMITTED: Minneapolis Craigslist post in search of child actors for daycare site where funding was “cruelly ripped away without cause.”
“To help hurry this state vetting process, we are looking to hire 20 child actors for 3 days while state is present on site.”
$1,500/day… pic.twitter.com/vvhDCR235g
— Liz Collin (@lizcollin) January 4, 2026
The ad, which features poor English grammar in places, specifically stated:
“My family runs day care here in the city and have for over 5 years, until Monday when funding was cruelly ripped away without cause.
“Due to this insane poor decision clear in white supremacy, we had to close our doors immediately. We must prove we are a function day care to get the funding back. The issue is, the ENTIRE client base has already found new daycare services so we need to find new clients base quickly.
“To help hurry this state vetting processes, we are looking to hire 20 child actors for 3 days, while state is present on site.
“We pay up to $1500 actor, per day. If you are interest, please send your child’s age and a note of what makes your child a special actor. Submit phone number as well, as we will be doing quick phone interviews as part of hire process.”
When X’s artificial intelligence Grok was asked if the ad were real, Grok stated: “Yes, the Craigslist ad is real (ID: 7905967005, posted Jan 2, 2026). It seeks 20 child actors under 5 for 3 days at $1,500/day to simulate operations during state vetting after funding loss, citing ‘white supremacy.’
“This aligns with MN daycare fraud probes: Federal holds on funds followed viral videos alleging scams (PBS, FOX9), though providers deny claims and report threats (NPR, WaPo). Inspections found mixed results (CBS).”
Independent journalist Nick Shirley, whose mega-viral video exposing widespread fraud last month sparked new investigations by the federal government, reacted to Collin’s post, saying: “Wow. How convenient that it’s circle radar is right above Quality LEARING Center, amazing work Liz!”
Other reaction features some comments believing the ad, but also many suggesting the post itself is fraudulent, trolling those following the fraud allegations in Minnesota:
“This is a pattern. Fraudulent shell companies create fictitious companies with inventory. But they coordinate the consignment of inventory when auditors arrive for scheduled counting of their widgets. This is fraud 101! I’m a CPA and I’ve studied some real life cases before.”
“Love your work, Nick. But this is clearly a troll post. The grammar is too good, for starters.”
“This is probably a fake ad because they already have plenty of actors operating childcare centers?”
“They can’t be that stupid. It’s a joke post right?”
“Come on dude are you seriously falling for this troll? Somalis have a deep network which they can call on to bring kids to their daycare. They’re not going to be on Craigslist.”
@AdamComedian pic.twitter.com/4eiR5tNEsJ
— John Kim (@johnkim77) January 4, 2026
Follow Joe on X @JoeKovacsNews
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