A TikTok investment opportunity promising easy money turned into a $1,500 loss after a young woman handed over her bank account information, passwords, and other financial details to a stranger.
Lawrence County deputies responded to Proctorville after a family reported that money had been taken from accounts belonging to a mother and daughter.
According to the sheriff’s report, the daughter said the trouble began when she and a friend were talking about ways to make extra money. The friend told her about a supposed investment opportunity he’d seen on TikTok where users could put in cash and potentially make money.
She decided to give it a try.
After visiting the website she was given, the woman said it appeared that money had been added to an account. A short time later, she received a telephone call from a man who told her money would be deposited into her bank account.
There was a catch.
She was told she would need to send portions of that money to other people—but she could keep the rest.
The woman told deputies she provided the caller with her bank account information and passwords.
She soon realized something was very wrong.
According to the report, multiple attempts were made to withdraw money from her account. Eventually, approximately $1,500 was taken.
Because she didn’t have enough money in the individual account to cover the transaction, the loss spilled over into a joint account she shared with her mother.
The mother told deputies the family struggled to regain control of the accounts but eventually managed to change the compromised information.
Here’s the Scam: They Want Your Bank Account, Not Your Investment
The promise of easy money through TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Discord, and other social media platforms is increasingly used to get victims to voluntarily hand over access to their financial accounts.
A particularly big red flag is any “investment” or money-making opportunity where someone promises to put money into your bank account and then asks you to send some of it elsewhere.
That’s not how legitimate investing works.
Never give a stranger your online banking username, password, account number, debit card information, verification codes, or other credentials—even if your online balance appears to show money has been deposited.
If you’ve already provided that information, don’t wait to see what happens. Contact your bank immediately, change your online banking credentials from a secure device, review linked accounts, cards and payment apps, and watch closely for additional transactions.
And remember the simplest rule of all: Nobody on TikTok needs your bank password to make you money.