Earn $5 by clicking 'like' on TikTok? At least 180 people lost over $2.5 million to such scams in Dec

At least 180 people lost a total of at least $2.6 million to a scam involving TikTok and other online platforms in December, said the police.

Victims would receive unsolicited job offers from scammers after being added into chat groups on WhatsApp or Telegram.

In some cases, scammers may also claim to represent TikTok or online communications/marketing companies when they approached victims with job offers.

The victims would be given tasks involving generation of social media traction.

They would be asked to follow influencers’ accounts on TikTok or Instagram, liking and subscribing to YouTube channels or videos, boosting accounts by following, liking or commenting on accounts or posts, or liking songs on Spotify.

Upon completion of the “tasks”, the victims would receive a small commission.

After victims were convinced that they could earn more commission, the scammers introduced more rewarding tasks to perform. In some cases, scammers would provide victims with fake employment contracts to reinforce the deception.

To perform these tasks, victims had to create accounts on scam websites and then transfer increasingly large sums of money to bank accounts or crypto wallets provided by the scammers.

Victims would only realise that they had been scammed when their website account showed a negative account balance, and they were told to pay additional funds to “upgrade their accounts” or when they failed to withdraw their “earnings”.

In another version of the scam, victims would receive unsolicited WhatsApp or Telegram messages, claiming that they had “won a giveaway” prize and would receive a small commission by completing “easy tasks” such as following an account on Instagram.

After victims were convinced that they could earn money easily, scammers would introduce them to advanced tasks. Victims would be added to chat groups where tasks involving generation of social media traction or transfer of money as “investment” would be discussed.

They would have to create accounts on scam websites and transfer money to bank accounts or crypto wallets provided by the scammers. These are done with the pretext of earning higher commissions.

Victims would only realise that they had been scammed when they encountered a negative account balance on their job website and were told to pay additional funds to “upgrade their accounts” or when they failed to withdraw their “earnings”.

You are advised to adopt the following precautionary measures:

ADD - ScamShield App to protect yourself from scam calls and SMSes.  Set security features (for example, set up transaction limits for internet banking transactions, enable multifactor authentication for banks and e-wallets). Do not send money to anyone whom you do not know or have not met in person before.

CHECK - For scam signs with official sources (for example, ScamShield WhatsApp bot @ go.gov.sg/scamshield-bot, call the Anti-Scam Helpline on 1800-722-6688, or visit www.scamalert.sg). Always verify the authenticity of job offers through official channels/sources and do not accept dubious job offers that offer lucrative returns for minimal effort. Do not engage or believe claims made in any messaging app group chats that you are randomly added or invited into and do not click on suspicious URLs or download apps from unknown sources.

TELL - Authorities, family, and friends about scams. Report the scammers or group chat using the in-app reporting function to WhatsApp and Telegram!

If you have any information relating to such crimes or if you are in doubt, please call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. All information will be kept strictly confidential. If you require urgent Police assistance, please dial ‘999’.