A Scots mum was scammed out of more than £3,000 after a fake ‘TikTok’ business duped her into believing she was earning from home.
Polly Purple, from Kilmarnock, was hoodwinked after interacting with a post on Facebook which promised to help her earn money from crafting as health problems have prevented her from working.
The 56-year-old was contacted by a supposed ‘handicraft processing’ business which claimed to be affiliated with TikTok before being asked to watch videos on the social media platform in exchange for more money.
Polly was assured when small deposits were paid into her bank, but within a few days she had been conned into joining a supposed online trading scheme and transferring large sums of cash abroad.
She has now reported her ordeal to police and says she wants to warn others of the dangers of trying to earn cash via social media.
Polly told the Record: “I want to make people aware of the scam to make sure no one else gets caught.
I’m out of £3,500 pounds because of it and they won’t give me it back.” The former retirement home development officer interacted with a post on Saturday and agreed to be sent a kit to make products from home.
She said: “I’ve got osteoporosis in my knees and a tear in my shoulder at the moment so I’m not able to work full time.
“This thing on Facebook came up about home working.
It was about putting together hairbands and keyrings.
They’re supposed to send you stuff and you put it all together and send it back.
“I enquired and said I’d make the keyrings, because it looks quite fun.
They took my details, address for the package and bank details and the next thing they wanted me to download an app called Telegram.” Polly said a woman struck up a conversation on Telegram asking her if she wanted to make more money by watching videos on TikTok.
She agreed and was sent small sums of money for doing so.
She said: “The woman said you could earn up to £360 a day.
I thought ‘ok, it’s money for nothing’.
