CONSUMER FIRST ALERT: TikTok cryptocurrency scam

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - People are losing money to a new investment scam.

“Somebody scrolling through TikTok, they see a photo or video of a large pile of cash. It’s very intriguing,” Lisa Schiller with the Wisconsin Better Business Bureau said.

It’s so intriguing, the BBB says it’s getting more reports of people losing money to this scam spread on the popular social media network.

“Triple your money or double your money, and invest only a small amount of money in order to get a large return. That’s a huge red flag. If this were the case, we would all be investing our money in such a way,” Schiller said.

One Wisconsin man who lost thousands filed a report with the Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker. He said he was contacted through TikTok by a woman claiming to work for a trading company in New York. She said she was making huge profits in cryptocurrency and he could, too.

He said he thought his $15,000 investment turned into over $400,000 in about a month. But when he tried to withdraw funds, he was told he had to pay $40,000 in taxes or they’d turn him in for tax evasion. He was scammed.

It starts with a couple hundred dollars and the scammer keeps asking for more.

The BBB wants to make sure you know how to recognize the scam, know the red flags, and don’t believe in these get-rich-quick schemes. Let your friends and family know about it.

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