China loves short video so now the scammers are moving in
Of course free iPhones and free puppies are too good to be true
You’d think falling for online scams only happens to old people, but in China, young people are now getting fooled on their favorite platform.
TikTok, the viral short video sensation, has its roots in China
Scams on these apps are mostly online loans, according to Xinhua. The state-run media outlet blasted the three apps for loose censorship because users can easily use a profile picture and username to impersonate other platforms -- like Alipay -- and for the apps’ lack of warning for suspicious links.
(Abacus is a unit of the South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba, whose affiliate Ant Financial owns Alipay.)
Tencent and Bytedance have yet to respond to our request for comment. Kuaishou did not comment on the Xinhua article, but said they have a series of measures to prevent scams.
