A new fraudulent scheme has been exposed in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, where criminals are using TikTok and Telegram to scam people out of money. Here’s how it works.
A new fraudulent scheme has been exposed in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, where criminals are using TikTok and Telegram to scam people out of money. Here’s how it works.
A 32-year-old resident of Ivano-Frankivsk saw an ad on a social network about the opportunity to earn money online, where they promised a fairly large salary for watching videos on TikTok, according to the police of the Ivano-Frankivsk region. The man was interested in the offer of easy money. He agreed to the job and even received several payments of a small amount for his work.
However, the «employer» then stated that in order to withdraw the rest of the earned funds, the man would need to invest his own money. In response, the «employee» sent the scammers almost UAH 127,000, after which the «employer» disappeared and stopped responding to messages.
The next victim of the attackers was a 38-year-old resident of the Tlumach territorial community. She became interested in an advertisement for earnings via Telegram, which, according to the advertisement, was profitable and did not require significant effort.
After the woman followed the link and submitted an application, she was offered a steady income over the phone. For every like she gave on various sites or for watching a video, she was promised a monetary reward.
The victim agreed to work and for a while received small amounts of money for this work. But later, the «manager» with whom she communicated about this work offered her to increase her earnings. To do this, she was offered to invest her own funds with interest.
A gullible woman, hoping for easy money, transferred all her savings to the bank cards indicated by the attackers. After that, the fraudsters also disappeared from sight along with her money. Of course, there was no question of any return with interest. The woman thus lost almost 116,000 UAH.
Currently, the police and investigators of Ivano-Frankivsk are looking for the perpetrators in both episodes. Criminal proceedings have been opened under Article 190 (Fraud) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Police urge citizens to be very careful with offers of easy money on the Internet. The main criteria for ads from criminals are promises of a flexible schedule, a high daily salary and work that only requires a phone. «No offices, no bosses, just easy money — a dream! Unfortunately, this is a scam! Don’t let yourself be fooled!» — says the law enforcement agency in a statement. They warn that most often such offers are part of a cunning phishing scheme, the purpose of which is to steal citizens’ savings.
Law enforcement officers also remind of the danger:
Anyone who has already been victimized by scammers is advised to contact the «102» hotline.
