Besut Police Chief Supt Azamuddin Ahmad@Abu recently revealed that a 67-year-old former teacher in Jertih, Besut, Terengganu, lost over RM80,000 after he was duped by a TikTok Shop scam. The victim fell for the scam, which involved a fake offer to open an online business on TikTok Shop.
Bernama quoted Azamuddin as saying that the victim received the offer via Facebook on 27 April and was asked to send a copy of his MyKad and a selfie for account registration. Furthermore, once the alleged TikTok Shop was set up, he was required to make an initial capital deposit for the online shop.
After receiving a small return from the initial deposit, the victim became confident and went on to deposit further capital. In total, he made 13 transactions to 7 different bank accounts provided by the scammer, amounting to RM82,600.
However, the victim became suspicious after making the final transaction on Sunday (4 May), as the suspect kept asking for more capital. Moreover, the TikTok Shop is also believed to be fake as it uses USD as the currency, and while there are frequent orders received on the system, no payments have ever been received.
The victim then lodged a police report on 5 May. The case is currently being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.
Please be informed that TikTok and TikTok Shop would never ask users or merchants to download their apps via external links or APK files. All users are advised to only download the apps (which are listed by TikTok Pte. Ltd.) via its official website (TikTok - Make Your Day) and platforms, including the Google Play Store, Apple App Store, and Microsoft Store. For more trending tech news, stay tuned to TechNave.
COMMENTS