If you are a parent or grandparent, listen up. You may not know much about TikTok, but chances are good the young people in your family are on it and using it regularly.
A recent study shows that kids four to 15 spend an average 80 minutes per day in the platform. TikTok’s own figures show that 80% of their users are between 16 and 24 years old.
Why is this important? The more time you spend using the app, the more exposed and vulnerable you are. And it's particularly dangerous for the very young.
More: You may have survived the scams of 2021, but are you ready for 2022?
Scammers are clued into this usage and are setting their sights on these users. One of the scams you’ll find on TikTok goes like this: Would you like to be paid $10 just for downloading an app via a social media site? If you’re a kid of course you would. Hopefully, as an adult you’d figure this is a scam — if you’re a child probably not.
In fact, thousands of young people are signing up for the scam. They will never receive a cent. But the crooks have an opportunity to trick them into giving away confidential information or downloading malware. There are a number of other ways the cons are working TikTok scams.
Here’s what you should be looking out for:
Phishing
Victims are targeted using emails pretending to be from TikTok saying there's an account problem or direct them to a fake sign-on page. Also they may be directed to a messaging app where they're tricked into thinking they're talking to a TikTok rep, who asks them to verify their account.
Influencers and imposters
Scammers pose as celebrities or influencers to promote products that may or may not exist. TikTok recently banned anyone, legit or otherwise, from pushing investments and other financial services because of the soaring incidence of fraudulent money and pyramid schemes. Most real influencers have a "verification badge" to show their pages and profile are genuine. But it's possible the badge may be fake. Some scammers offer to sell verification badges at $200 a pop, but anyone who tries to buy can wave goodbye to their cash without getting a badge.
Commission seekers
Crooks steal pictures and videos found on the Internet, which they then post to try to lure viewers into clicking links that eventually lead to costly and dangerous "adult" sites. Scammers earn a commission for each user they send to these sites. It’s not just true of TikTok, but all social media sites.
Video shaming
Young people need to be cautious about the videos and photos they post. They think they will only be seen by their friends and maybe family. However, the criminals may then use them for blackmail. It’s called "video shaming," they track down the poster's family and send them the clip with questions like, "Is this your daughter?" TikTok does make an effort to protect its users, but we can’t leave it completely up to them.