The number of scams featuring fraudsters posing as real TikTok employees is again on the rise.
Their goal seems to be related to defrauding teens from having non-existent jobs, thanks to a study shared by Virgin Media O2. It claims in the startling report that the past month saw a sharp rise in the figure of fraud text messages from scammers that keep on mentioning how people make up more than $1000 for a day’s work, solely by liking content on the app.
As per the operator, one study showed how youngsters comprehend scams and don’t realize that criminals can act like fake employees which they like. Most of them were between the 13 to 16 year age bracket.
In such a case, the scammers posed as workers from TikTok where one common text read, that they were contacting from the app’s HR Department. A sincere invite was sent to watch content on the app in return for a handsome sum of funds, not to mention extra for clicking like content. They ended the invitation by graciously telling them that they looked forward to seeing them soon.
The scam is believed to be one of the most frequent ones encountered in today’s day and age, the director for scam prevention at Virgin Media O2 shared. Most of this is driven by a dual feature where scammers know that the youth loves TikTok and would easily fall for it.
A survey featuring 1,000 people found that 25% of them didn’t know that criminals were defrauding them. They didn’t even realize that the person pretending to be from their favorite brand was a scammer. However, 77% did share that they were well aware of fake messages when presented in front of them.
Other frequently seen fake messages used currently are being told you’ve won money from gambling or packages getting damaged through a delivery mishap. Such studies are proof that naive teens are getting carried away by apps on social media and that more awareness needs to be created to keep them protected. For now, TikTok has refused to comment on the issue.
Image: DIW-Aigen
Read next: Deepfake Evolution: ByteDance's OmniHuman-1 Redefines AI-Generated Video Manipulation
Their goal seems to be related to defrauding teens from having non-existent jobs, thanks to a study shared by Virgin Media O2. It claims in the startling report that the past month saw a sharp rise in the figure of fraud text messages from scammers that keep on mentioning how people make up more than $1000 for a day’s work, solely by liking content on the app.
As per the operator, one study showed how youngsters comprehend scams and don’t realize that criminals can act like fake employees which they like. Most of them were between the 13 to 16 year age bracket.
In such a case, the scammers posed as workers from TikTok where one common text read, that they were contacting from the app’s HR Department. A sincere invite was sent to watch content on the app in return for a handsome sum of funds, not to mention extra for clicking like content. They ended the invitation by graciously telling them that they looked forward to seeing them soon.
The scam is believed to be one of the most frequent ones encountered in today’s day and age, the director for scam prevention at Virgin Media O2 shared. Most of this is driven by a dual feature where scammers know that the youth loves TikTok and would easily fall for it.
A survey featuring 1,000 people found that 25% of them didn’t know that criminals were defrauding them. They didn’t even realize that the person pretending to be from their favorite brand was a scammer. However, 77% did share that they were well aware of fake messages when presented in front of them.
Other frequently seen fake messages used currently are being told you’ve won money from gambling or packages getting damaged through a delivery mishap. Such studies are proof that naive teens are getting carried away by apps on social media and that more awareness needs to be created to keep them protected. For now, TikTok has refused to comment on the issue.
Image: DIW-Aigen
Read next: Deepfake Evolution: ByteDance's OmniHuman-1 Redefines AI-Generated Video Manipulation
