CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A new report shows more and more Texans are taking financial advice from social media influencers. Experts warn young viewers are especially vulnerable to lose their money.
FinTok, a financial space on Tik Tok has grown in popularity.
#FinTok has gained more than 1.6 billion views overall and #PersonalFinance is sitting at over 6.4 billion views.
As more people become interested in learning, scammers are out to take what money they can get.
“People can tell you on Tik Tok to invest in something and you’ll become a millionaire in two years,” said TAMUCC student, Liv Moya.
Steven Bear echoes Moya’s experience.
“I do see a lot of investment advice from people my age,” Moya said.
Bear is a junior at the TAMU-CC University. He tells KZTV that he made his first investment in 2020.
“I had a summer job and then I had my hours cut short,” said Bear. “I had to find a way to make some money.”
Bear navigated making important financial decisions on his own. First, investing in a startup company and now cryptocurrency.
“Stocks are generally backed by companies that have proof that they’re legitimate. A lot of cryptocurrencies in the cryptocurrency space comes off as scammy,” explained Bear.
The Better Business Bureau has responded to several reports of Tik Tok scams.
Scammers will pose as an investor, promising to turn a few hundred dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency into thousands in no time at all, a service they ask you to pay for.
They’ll ask you to…
