Crypto scammers target job hunters with fake TikTok ads

Crypto scammers are creating fake ads on TikTok aimed at job seekers, and one user lost nearly $8,000.

The scam came to light after a Leicester man was scammed out of £6,000 (around $7,620) in cryptocurrency payments after scammers lured the victim with money by promising a lucrative business opportunity.

A report from LeicestershireLive said the victim was referred to the scammers after seeing an advert claiming to offer a “no experience required” job in early August. The advert directed him to apply for a job titled “data provider user” at a company called Clickaine, which advertised itself as an “international app marketing firm”.

Clickaine is a Czech marketing company whose name was unintentionally used in the scam. The company has denied involvement in the scheme.

The scam began when malicious actors contacted the victim via WhatsApp and posed as a recruiter. They offered a monthly salary of up to £4,650 (approximately $5,800) and commission for just one hour of work per day, paid in USDT. The victim was then asked to open an account on cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com.

While the job involved completing simple online tasks, the unusual requirement was that the victim pay a cryptocurrency deposit before each task. The scammers provided a specific wallet address to send the deposits, which were required to initiate the task, and were returned with a commission.

At first, the victim’s experience seemed promising: He made small cryptocurrency investments, completed tasks, and received returns along with commission, giving him a false sense of security.

However, deposits initially ranged from £30 to £8,000. Once larger deposits were made, the funds were not returned. When the victim shared her experience on TikTok, many other alleged victims reached out to her with similar experiences, suggesting the incident was not an isolated incident.

TikTok’s community guidelines prohibit such scams, but that hasn’t stopped crypto scammers from preying on unsuspecting users. Last year, a report from crypto.news pointed to a surge in fake crypto giveaways, with scammers using deepfake videos of celebrities like Elon Musk to mislead users.

These scams and fake ads extend beyond TikTok, with platforms like Facebook and X also grappling with such incidents. For example, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission recently detected more than 600 ads that were misleading or promoted crypto scams.

Blockchain security firm SlowMist warned earlier this year about an increase in phishing links sent by accounts impersonating real crypto-focused projects on the microblogging platform.