A TikTok video alerting people about a sexually explicit photoshoot fraud has gone viral after other users reported falling for the same scam.
Junior designer Lai Yi Jing, 21, shared a video on July 2 about an email she got from so-called freelance photographer "Gavin Choo," headquartered in Singapore. The man promised S$8,000 for a "clothed" photoshoot done indoors with a "unique concept," which turned out to be 50 men having sex.
After Lai requested further information to prove his identity, the guy hiked the offer to S$12,000.
According to Lai, she produced the video to raise awareness and blocked the man's phone number. Police warned the man after he was found, according to SCMP.
A Long-Running TikTok Scam
She originally resisted reporting the incident to the police, but now feels it is vital to investigate if the same culprit has committed other crimes to safeguard future victims.
Her TikTok video has over 138,000 views and 220 comments.
Comments indicated that such fraud had been occurring for years. In 2021, Singaporean women reported similar offers, including one who filed a police case after receiving a promise of S$22,500 for a three-hour shoot, according to a report from Today.
Other TikTok users commented that they were receiving identical messages or social media offers from the photographer.
One user stated that the photographer asked her to do a photography session in a hotel room alone but she turned it down as it was "too sketchy."
Production and distribution of obscene films and images in Singapore is illegal under the Films Act and Undesirable Publications Act, with fines of up to S$40,000 and prison sentences of up to two years.
TikTok Urges Users to Report Scams
According to TikTok, scammers use group conversations and unwanted texts to entice people to follow TikTok accounts, like and comment on material for money, or apply for fraudulent TikTok jobs. The popular social platform urges users to be cautious, avoid revealing personal information, and verify TikTok messages to prevent scams.
TikTok also tells netizens to avoid sending money to strangers and those who offer great payouts for little work. To avoid scams and safeguard the community, TikTok urges users to report suspicious behavior under "Frauds and Scams" on the app.
TikTok has faced criticism due to its extensive collection of user data as it gathers usernames, passwords, dates of birth, email addresses, phone numbers, uploads, comments, messages, payment card details, and phone contacts, per the company's privacy policy.
Beijing is home to TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, which has raised concerns that China's National Intelligence Law might compel data sharing with Chinese intelligence agencies, per Techopedia. TikTok and ByteDance deny sharing US user data with Chinese authorities.
In response to these concerns, the US government has banned TikTok for federal employees and threatened to force ByteDance to sell it. However, experts said a ban may not work because people might discover methods to access TikTok, which has 150 million US users.