Faux Russian-Language Tiktok Scams Fashionable Accounts – Kommersant
A fake TikTok for Business website has appeared in Russia hijacking popular accounts with a fraudulent content monetization scheme, the Kommersant Business Daily reported Friday.
This is the first time the widespread social media inclusion method has included the popular Chinese short video app, the newspaper quoted the Infosecurity cybersecurity firm’s senior analyst Alexander Vurasko as saying.
“Scammers send bloggers an offer to install a version of TikTok for Business with monetization functions that are disabled in the social network,” said Vurasko, describing how the scheme works.
Fraudsters gain access to users’ login credentials by registering on the fake Russian-language website tiktok-business.ru, he added.
Infosecurity, a subsidiary of Russian information security service company Softline, said tiktok-business.ru is part of dozens of scam websites that go online every month.
“Their lifespan is short and ranges from a few hours to five to six days,” Kommersant quoted Vurasko as saying.
TikTok, which does not currently offer any content monetization options for Russian users, has asked Russian authorities to block the scam website.
The fake website remained accessible from Friday afternoon.
Russia has one of the world’s highest numbers of TikTok users, estimated from 16.4 million in August to 29.3 million in December 2020.
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