They probably do know you don’t have money. They’re not trying to sell to you right now so much as categorize you. A lot of this data collection is about predicting who might spend later, not who is spending today. There are entire demographic buckets for people who are broke, cautious, or only spend out of necessity. Being targeted doesn’t mean they think you have money it just means you fit a profile they’re tracking. You’re data first, customer maybe later.

What’s unsettling is how specific some of these categories are. This is just a small sample of the kinds of labels people get sorted into:

• HENRY: High Earners, Not Rich Yet
• HIFI: High Income, Financially Insecure (often overspending)
• MUPPIE: Middle-aged Upcoming Prosperous Professional
• LIBRA: Low Income, But Rich Already (low wages, high net worth)
• DINK / DINKWAD: Dual Income, No Kids / With a Dog
• SINK: Single Income, No Kids
• SITCOM: Single Income, Two (or more) Children, Outrageous Mortgage
• KIPPERS: Kids In Parents’ Pockets Eroding Retirement Savings
• FIRE: Financially Independent, Retired Early (or aggressively trying)
• ALICE: Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed
• RINKs: Retired Income, No Kids