A beauty and lifestyle content creator who works as a banker has taken to TikTok to warn viewers about common scams going on right now.
User Aerial (@sincerelyaerial), whose video has been viewed 1.2 million times since it was first posted, said that even if viewers aren’t likely to fall for these scams themselves, being able to recognize them can help protect older family members or friends who may be more susceptible.
First on her list is the job interview scam, advertised most frequently as a work-from-home or remote position that the TikToker calls, “way too good to be true.” After being interviewed, she explains, people often receive checks that they’re directed to cash for job equipment.
“What they’re doing is sending you a bad check,” Aerial says in her video. “When you put it in your account or you cash it, you get the money and whatever they ask you to do with it, and then the check bounces and your account is negative.”
Fortunately, these types of scams are relatively straightforward to identify, she adds. She tells her viewers that if they’re offered an interview via email, text message, or on platforms like Telegram and WhatsApp, they should steer clear.
“Or if the job pay is way too good to be true, like $35 an hour when you know the average median salary for that job is $15 or $16, that’s how you know it’s a scam,” Aerial elaborates.
Next up, are text messages that appear to be sent by delivery companies, as well as messages inviting users to review their phone bills.
“Half the time when I’ve gotten those messages, I don’t even have said company, which is a dead giveaway,” Aerial reveals. She simply advises viewers to check their account balances through their banking apps to ensure that no unauthorized transactions have occurred after receiving messages like these.
@sincerelyaerial #stitch with @𝙻𝙰𝙺𝚂𝙼𝚈 𝚂𝙰𝙽𝙲𝙷𝙴𝚉 🪸 ♬ original sound – Aerial | Content Creator |
But perhaps the most frightening scams are those conducted through phone calls using artificial intelligence.
“Scammers are using AI to call people with the voices of people that they may know and saying there’s a problem,” Aerial explains in her video,
Viewers shared their own experiences with these types of scams in the comment section.
“I’ve had scammers clone their number to look like federal departments numbers because I have a foreign last name,” one wrote. “They kept saying I’ll get deported.”
“I got a phone call that my mom was in an accident and I responded ‘so you called me after I ain’t talked to her in years? Try again,’” another viewer shared.
In an email to Daily Dot, DHL directed customers to the company site’s Fraud Awareness page, where they can report suspected fake usage of the company’s name.
The Daily Dot reached out to Aerial, and Amazon via email, and to UPS via its website contact page.