Today’s article is inspired by an incident that took place yesterday on TikTok, There are some people who are running scams, and I want to help you avoid these scams on social media. I will tell you the story of what happened on Tiktok and how I almost fell for a scam.

At the time it did not look like a scam at all, it seemed so real and I really felt like helping, more on that later but for now, I just want you to be very careful when surfing the net, whether you are on Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, or even Twitter. Avoid these social media scams because they will drain your bank account, and you are actually the one who will send them the money. They won’t even threaten you or anything like that, you will send them the money out of sympathy.

OK, Let’s Get Into How I Almost Fell For A Scam On TikTok

The TikTok app has become my favorite app. It’s easy to use, and it’s very easy to grow on TikTok, because it does not take a lot of effort to create content on the app. The videos are between 15 and 60 seconds long, which means you can create many videos and save them as drafts so you can stay active on the app even when you don’t have time to create videos.

Another thing I love about Tiktok, is the entertainment side of the app, to be honest, its very easy to get addicted to the app. There are so many funny, and even educational videos. And the fact that the videos are short makes it possible for you to get lost in the app and spend hours watching videos.

TikTok has also become an outlet for many people, they come on the app to vent, and even share some really personal information about themselves. I guess people need someone to listen to them and even if that person is on the internet, they just need to talk. And especially now, when the whole world is going through so much.

Avoid These Social Media Scams, How One Lady Scammed People On TikTok

I was just scrolling through the app in the morning Yesterday when I came across a video of a young woman who was holding a baby, and she was pregnant, and she was crying saying that she has never posted a video like this before but she is in an abusive relationship, and she wants to get out but she has nowhere to go. She spans the camera to show us her house there were some broken things on the floor and the floor was also wet.

She explained that her boyfriend who is also the father of her children, had broken the TV, and some furniture, and he had also broken the washing machine and the drier, and that is why there was water all over the floor. Then she went on to plead with anyone who was watching to help her and her babies get out of that situation.

Any kind of help was appreciated. I went to her profile and she had listed her Cashapp, PayPal, and Venmo. I also noticed that even though the video had been up for only 6 hours, and it was the only video on her TikTok account, she had already managed to gather 1.4 million followers because the video went viral instantly.

Her Video Went Viral Immediately And People Started Donating Money

The fact that I was able to see that video on my Tiktok Feed, means it had gone viral all over the world because, as I mentioned in my previous TikTok article, the algorithm is designed to push out your video to the users that are where you are located, first then if those users interact well with your video, meaning likes, comments, and shares, then your video will be pushed to a greater audience and later it will be pushed to all feeds.

Anyway, by the end of the day rumors started circulating within the app that the lady had posted the very same video on FaceBook and managed to scam over $160k

She Had Scammed Over $160k On Facebook Previously

Well, one TikTok user was very angry because he said not only did he duet the video, but he also sent her $10k Duet is when you record a video in reaction to another video in which case you expose the dueted video to your followers and also it gives the dueted video more chances of going viral.

Many people did that especially those who couldn’t send her money, they did whatever they could to help including liking, commenting, and sharing her video. When I saw the video, I was very close to sending her something via PayPal, but something told me to wait.

Because I had seen a similar incident on Instagram where someone posted something similar and then she was exposed as a scammer. Also, the fact that that was her only video on Tiktok, and the fact that instead of calling the Police, she decided TikTok is the best option, when clearly based on broken items in her house, she was in danger.

It made me have a strange feeling, also there was a lady on TikTok who tried to help her by suggesting that she goes to a shelter, and she did not reply to that comment.

The Online Store Scam On Instagram, And FaceBook

 Research shows that there has been an increase in social media scams in 2020 in comparison to 2019. in  2019, it was reported that a total of $134 million was lost to social media scams. But by June of 2020, it was reported that people had lost $117 million.

Another scam that is becoming very popular especially on Instagram and Facebook, is the online store scam. There are so many online stores that have come up recently, and the people who want to support small businesses are falling victim to these scams.

What happens is you see something you like, you order it, then it doesn’t get delivered. And then when you try to follow up, they say that it’s still on its way. Or they just ignore you completely.

The other way, is to send you some low-quality object different from what you saw in the pictures and the description, then when you contact them, they will tell you that they are going to ship you a replacement, but you have to cover the shipping cost. Chances are you will never receive the replacement and of course you will never get your money back.

Conclusion.

Stay safe on the internet, do not let people prey on your sympathy or emotions. Everyone is going through a hard time due to the current global situation. So unless you know for a fact that you are not being scammed, please save your money.

May I say that after the lady on TikTok was exposed, she deleted the video and her account has no videos right now but she still has 1.4 million followers. And here I am trying to share valuable information and I can’t even get to 30k followers. By the way, if you are on TikTok, please follow me, my user is @roseletsworkinpjs.

Hey, have you seen these kinds of scams on social media? please share your thoughts in the comment section.

Thank you for your time.

Rose

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