Grift

[Sarah]

To steal something. Possibly a combination of [gank] and [shifty]. Only the most talented [hobo]s can pull the grift off.

[Cami]

the art of grifting. Taking something that does not belong to you

[PussyCat]

Engage in petty or small-scale swindling.

[Julene]

A money-making operation that is either dishonest and takes advantage of people, or is simply a cause of annoyance or [scorn] to those who pay. Typically, a [grift] is a source of [easy money] to whoever runs it.

[Lizzy Liz]

An online [side hustle] that consists of expressing political opinions, usually right-wing, and then asking for [financial support] in order to continute to express those opinions. In this context, grift implies that either A) the opinions are just a performance (and not actually held by the speaker, so the grift is just an act to make money), or the need for financial support is significantly overstated, typically by [stoking] fears of being censored. Thus, a genuinely opinionated online presence with a small amount of support is not considered a grift.