I remember the first time I fired up TikTok to see what it was all about. In about 10 minutes, the darn app’s algorithms kicked into gear. On my feed, aside from people dancing all over the globe, were vids about vegetarian dishes, travel tips and golden retrievers. And you know what … it was pretty hard to put down, a total time suck. After three days, I removed it from my phone.
About 150 million Americans hang out on TikTok for, on average, an hour and a half each day. It’s a big platform with significant money being made and spent. And you know what that means, scammers and lots of them.
Everything under the sun
A woman named Brittany fell for a romance scam on TikTok. After she gave the guy $4,000, the scammer disappeared and disconnected his phone. He’s done this to countless women, by the way.
A man in LaFayette, Lousianna told the TikTok world he was living in a cheap motel and needed money to feed his hungry dog. Before you say, “Poor guy, down on his luck,” stop. Internet sleuths discovered the guy was making $6,000 per day this way and buying all sorts of pricey designer clothes.
What you need to know is that TikTok isn’t just for silly videos. Criminals are finding ways to rip users off in new ways.
Shop till you TikTok drop
According to the Better Business Bureau, TikTokers like to spend money. A whopping 49% have purchased something they saw on the app. TikTok knows this, of course, and is rolling out TikTok Shop.
As influencers try to engineer their vids to go viral, so do scammers. They’re learning to game the algorithm, knowing people trust a video that’s been liked, shared and viewed thousands or millions of times.
Speaking of … How can you tell the difference between an online influencer and a computer scientist? Ask them to pronounce the word “bios.”
Before you hit the buy button
- Heads-up when using discount codes, especially for a TikToker’s shop. Make sure you check the original shipping fee before you use any coupon codes. I’ve seen scammers try to make up for the “discount” by jacking up the shipping fees.
- Before buying something from a TikToker’s shop, do a little digging on Google to see how other sellers are pricing that item. If the price on TikTok seems too good to be true, it probably is. Trust your instincts.
- Don’t get sucked into hype and urgency. “There’s only one left!” has one purpose: To get you to buy now.
- Scammers might pretend to be your favorite influencers, trying to tempt you into buying their so-called “exclusive” products. So, give their profile a good once-over before you make any decisions. Ask yourself, does the follower count seem legit? Are people actually engaging with their posts, commenting and liking? Trust your gut — if something seems off, it probably is.