A "free diamonds" app that never delivered diamonds got 950k installs in four months: how the old Free Fire skin-tool business works

FTools: Skin Collection Hub is a Free Fire skin catalog app on Google Play with 6k cumulative installs as of Nov, and 956k in the last 7 days. It hasn't been updated since its 260 launch in Jul 21, stays at version 1.0.0, charges nothing, and only shows ads. Most people who install it expect free diamonds, then complain in the reviews that it's a scam. What got it going wasn't the product: one TikTok account posted the same line in 766 videos, plus cheap traffic from Nigeria, South Africa, Indonesia and Latin America. Below is how the business runs and why it's not worth copying.

"If you installed it you're the fool"

In Oct 17, a user named Adama Fofanah left this on FTools' Google Play page:

it is fake if you download it you are very stupid (it's fake, if you download it you're very stupid)

By Nov 6,238 people had marked it helpful, the most-liked review on the app. The second is "this app is a scam please don't download it" from Jedidiah Promise on Aug 3 (102 found it helpful), and the third is "ver bad app Don't install it" (50 people).

Yet the same store page shows an average rating of 4.88. The rating distribution has just two clusters: about 5 one-star reviews and about 2,400 3-star ones, with 150, 1, 2 and 4 stars all at 0 (Google Play, 11-06). Reviews are angry, but the stars are all good. The score is most likely manufactured (inference; how it was done is unverified).

What it is

The store page is restrained: "A fan-made companion app for entertainment and browsing collections," with seven catalog categories (characters, gift packs, emotes, pets, weapons, vehicles, parachutes) and a disclaimer: "unofficial, not affiliated with any game company or publisher." The description never mentions Free Fire; it says "game collections" instead.

But people who come in aren't after a catalog. The package name contains "diamond," and the TikTok caption reads "FFF Skin Tool - Diamond Est": "FFF" and "Diamond" are words Free Fire players type when searching for free diamonds or free skins. Diamonds are the in-game currency you buy with money, and among young players in Nigeria, Indonesia and Latin America, "how to get diamonds for free" is a question people search constantly. FTools gives you nothing but a catalog to look at; by the time users realize, they've already sat through several screens of ads.

The store page is marked "Contains ads" with no in-app purchases; the data safety section says device IDs may be shared with third parties, the standard wording for ad SDKs.

Where the traffic comes from

One line, posted 766 times on TikTok. A TikTok account named "FTools: Skin Collection Hub" has 44k followers, 605k likes and 766 videos (TikTok, 11-06). We reviewed 350 of them: the caption is identical every time, "Upgrade your gaming style with FFF Skin Tool - Diamond Est!", each video runs 20–30 seconds, the content is tagged as Vietnam, and the audio is labeled "âm thanh gốc" (Vietnamese for "original sound").

视频是一批一批发的:8 月 24 日 0 点 11 分到 15 分发了一批,9 月 30 日凌晨 2 点 47 分一批,10 月 26 日 0 点 25 分又一批(美西时间),每批十几二十条,几乎同一分钟。播放量差得极开:350 条的中位数只有约 1,000 次,最高的一条(9 月 30 日那批)838 万次,8 月 23 日一条 284 万,另有四五条过百万。在 TikTok 搜「fff skin tool」,前 20 条里有 12 条是这个号的。

This shape looks like batch ad creative in an ad account: the same line over different visuals, hundreds of videos spread out, betting on a few hits (inference; whether it's paid promotion or pure organic reach, I couldn't verify in the TikTok ad library, unconfirmed). The install curve fits too: August 9–11, the early-to-mid October stretch, Oct 30 to Nov 3, with single-day installs spiking to 3–45k; September 19–25 is almost 0 (third-party estimates from AppstoreSpy + Google Play; July through October are estimates). It comes in waves, like the spend switches on and off. It doesn't look like word of mouth.

Nobody in the comments believes it. Under the video with 8.38M views, the most-liked comment is in Spanish: "I believed this when I was broke too" (85 likes), followed by an Indonesian one: "Does anyone still believe this?" (43 likes), "I fell for it 2022 years ago", "it's viral bait", and one that says "my ex never lied to me this much." Under the August one with 2.84M views, the top-liked comment is Indonesian: "want to download, but scared it won't be like the video."

That's the algorithm of this business: not everyone has to believe it. A thousand people scroll past, and a few tap through, install, and sit through a few screens of ads. That's enough.

Rating and name help conversion. A 4.88 rating makes the store page look credible; "Diamond" and "Skin Tool" in the package name and title target searches like "free fire diamond." YouTube has a lot of "FFF skin tool real or fake" review videos, so that search demand has been there all along.

Free Fire returning to India isn't the main driver. Free Fire relaunched in India in Oct 28 (TechCrunch), but FTools only reached #198 on India's Entertainment chart in Nov 5. Its home turf is Nigeria (best Entertainment Top Free rank #18, 11-03) and South Africa (#32), followed by Argentina, Turkey, Mexico and Indonesia, markets where an install is worth a few cents.

Who's behind it

The developer is listed as "ZEMA MARKETPLACE INC," the name of a real Chicago energy-data company. But the Play account's contact email is a Gmail address, the privacy policy sits on Google Sites, and the account only started publishing apps this year: a short drama app, a dog-language translator, and FF skin tools (AppBrain). It's most likely a bought or rented corporate developer account (inference, unconfirmed).

More notable: the "FFF Skin Tool - Diamond Est" pushed in the TikTok captions isn't FTools. It's a package under a different developer account, and that package has since been removed from Google Play (Play page 404; APKPure's last update was Oct 11). The earliest video we found on that TikTok account is from Jun 24, almost a month before FTools' store debut on Jul 21. Taken together: the same Vietnamese team seems to hold several packages and several developer accounts, keeps the TikTok account and creative constant, and when a package gets pulled, swaps in the next one (inference).

Where the money comes from, and how long it lasts

No in-app purchases, just ads: interstitials and rewarded videos that start playing as soon as someone opens the app. An individual user brings in roughly a few cents to a few dollars in ad revenue (estimate), so the only way to make it pay is to buy installs in cheap markets like Nigeria and Indonesia. Users who find they can't get diamonds leave quickly, so retention is presumably poor, which means spend has to run nonstop. When it stops, daily installs drop to double digits.

Momentum is fading: around Nov 1 it was about 45k a day, and in Nov 6 it was 28k (Google Play).

Who it's competing with

This is a crowded, established category. Look-alikes with "FFF," "FF," "Booyah," or "Diamond" in the name number in the dozens on Google Play, nearly identical in form: a fan-made disclaimer, a skin encyclopedia, and ads. A few representative ones (Google Play, 11-06):

FTools sits mid-pack and is no different in product: its description, category, and disclaimer follow the same template as the rest. Other look-alikes have also started their own TikTok accounts pushing videos, one with 1.01M views. The same playbook shows up in Mobile Legends and Roblox skin tools too (a Roblox avatar-skin tool with 5.16M installs).

Where it does beat the rest is TikTok coverage: one account takes up most of the "fff skin tool" search results.

Almost nobody outside knows it exists: no press coverage, no discussion on X when you search "FTools" or "FFF skin," and no public revenue figures. That doesn't mean there's an open slot. The category has been full for a long time; the people running these just don't talk about it.

If it were you

D Don't copy this. It's an arbitrage play built on "riding a big game's IP + promising what can't be delivered + cheap traffic + ads to pay back." It makes money, but dozens of players are fighting over the same users, and packages can be pulled at any time. The one it was promoting has already been pulled.

Who it's for: user-acquisition teams already running ad monetization, who know how to batch-publish TikTok creative and have several developer accounts to rotate. For them it's just another category, and they don't need this article.

Who it's not for: indie developers who want to build a product that keeps users long-term; solo operators without backup accounts who go to zero after one takedown; anyone unwilling to take the risk of trading on the Free Fire trademark and the "free diamonds" implication.

How to do it (if you just want the playbook): don't copy what it sells, copy how it distributes. Pick a compliant game utility that players genuinely need: strategy guides, loadout calculators, redeem-code reminders, event calendars. Make the content real, and don't imply "free diamonds." First work out how much ad revenue one user brings in in your target market, then decide how much you can afford to pay per install.

How to acquire users: take its TikTok approach. One line paired with dozens or hundreds of visuals, posted in small batches, with money only behind the few that perform. Target markets with cheap installs and lots of young players: Nigeria, Indonesia, Latin America.

When to move: there's no hard deadline. If you're going to build a game tool anyway, ship two to three weeks before a big game's new season or new region launch. The Free Fire India relaunch wave is one example, and search volume is still climbing.

What would mean we got it wrong: (1) if by late December FTools is still on Google Play, daily installs hold above 20k, and it hasn't swapped packages, these packages aren't as easy to take down as assumed, and the window is wider than it looks; (2) if a utility app with a genuine 4+ rating and good retention breaks into Nigeria's Entertainment top 20, that shows the demand can be served without deception, and that's the version actually worth building.

---

*Data: Google Play installs and charts (10-29 to 11-06); July through October installs are third-party estimates from AppstoreSpy. TikTok accounts, videos and comments (scraped 11-06). Store page copy and reviews (Google Play, 11-06). Developer info: AppBrain, public LEI registry, APKPure. Free Fire India launch: TechCrunch 2026-10-28. Anything marked "inference" or "estimate" is inferred or estimated.*