Inside AI Scam Ads Exploiting TikTok’s Advertising System to Defraud Nigerians – Report

The apparent moderation gaps are providing fraudsters with a powerful channel to reach potential victims and lend credibility to their fraudulent schemes through sponsored placement.

When Mohammed Yusuf resigned from his “poorly paid” teaching job in Ilorin, Kwara State, in October 2025, he hoped a new source of income would help him survive Nigeria’s economic hardship. After weeks of unsuccessful job searches, he invested borrowed money to begin a Point-of-Sale (PoS) business that he hoped would keep him afloat.

As Mr Yusuf searched online for opportunities, TikTok’s algorithm appeared to understand his search interest. His feed became increasingly populated with video ads promising financial support such as grants, loans, giveaways, and investment opportunities. One advert, carrying OPay’s branding and a convincing Nigerian voice, claimed the fintech company was distributing free PoS machines and N200,000 ($145.15) cash grant to support operators.

Trusting the offer, Mr Yusuf clicked the link to apply and submitted his phone number and OPay account details, unknown to him that the ads are fake AI-generated targeting to lure unsuspecting Nigerian users into scam. Hours later, a man claiming to be an OPay representative called him, discussed where the PoS machine would be delivered and requested a one-time password (OTP) supposedly needed to confirm his eligibility for the grant.

“It was a video of one of their staff members I saw on TikTok that they wanted to give money and PoS to us. Everything looked real and even was promoted as a sponsored ad, so I never suspected it was a scam,” Mr Yusuf recalled.

The reality emerged a few hours later when he returned to his PoS stand and discovered that about N150,000 ($108.86), nearly all the capital sustaining his business, had disappeared from his account through betting voucher transactions.

“I was sweating and crying that day,” he said. “I had borrowed money to start the business. Losing that amount almost broke me. What made me cry was when I kept calling the number back and he picked up only to say, ‘I have scammed you,’” Mr Yusuf said.

His complaint to Opay received no solution beyond being informed that the funds had been withdrawn in multiple transactions through SportyBet, a betting platform. “Opay said they can not track the money or recover it from the platform,” he said.

While TikTok’s policies prohibit scams, impersonation and deceptive content, this investigation found scam ads are still able to run as paid promotions on the platform. The apparent moderation gaps are providing fraudsters with a powerful channel to reach potential victims and lend credibility to their fraudulent schemes through sponsored placement. This reporter found more victims scammed through fake adverts on TikTok than on other platforms reviewed.

While this investigation focused on TikTok, similar AI-generated scam advertisements were also found on other social media platforms, including Facebook, revealing that fraudsters are exploiting multiple platforms to distribute deceptive investment schemes, fake giveaways and other financial scams using deepfake videos of trusted public figures and brands.

But that changed one night in January 2026. While scrolling through his TikTok before going to sleep, he encountered a video ad promoting a crypto mentorship that promised users could multiply their investments.

Just like Mr Yusuf, Mr Wura submitted his email and phone number to the link, expecting additional details to arrive in his inbox. Instead, he woke up the next morning to discover that the attackers had gained access to his email and subsequently took control of his cryptocurrency Bybit wallet. By the time he recovered access through customer support days later with new email, his digital assets had all disappeared.

“I was distressed,” he said. “The email was gone. The Google Authenticator I use to authorise login access and every transaction was also hacked.” Mr Wura later learnt that unauthorised access activities were made on his Bybit account almost around the time he submitted his email in the redirected link from the TikTok’s ad.

Why users easily fall for ad scams

To understand how these fraudulent adverts operate on TikTok, for five weeks between 21 April and 28 May, this reporter monitored and archived 130 ads involved in the fraudulent scheme. The adverts used AI-generated synthetic media like voices and cloned identities to create the appearance of legitimacy while redirecting users to external websites to surrender their personal information and financial credentials.

Cybersecurity experts interviewed for this investigation said such tactics are consistent with modern social engineering operations that rely on trust and urgency rather than technical sophistication.

Advert scams exploit users’ trust in platforms

The advertiser accounts also raised concerns. Many had few or no following and contained zero posts in their profile. Cybersecurity experts suggested that such accounts are often fake or created to obscure ownership.

The investigation also uncovered patterns suggesting deliberate scammers’ efforts to avoid scrutiny. Nearly all of the documented adverts had their comment sections disabled, preventing users from publicly questioning the authenticity of the claims or warning potential victims. In multiple cases, attempts to share the ads outside TikTok returned error messages such as “This action isn’t available for this post” and “Unavailable.” This revealed that these ads are hyper-personalised, targeting each particular user.

Michael Ukachi, a cybersecurity expert specialising in ethical hacking, said the objective of many of the scam campaigns is to manipulate users into voluntarily surrendering sensitive information that can immediately or later be used to gain access to financial accounts.

“Users naturally believe they are dealing with a legitimate company and also assume that the ads have passed through some form of verifications. But scammers understand this psychology and know that once TikTok distributes the content as an ad, many users lower their guard because of their trust in the platform,” Mr Okachi expressed.

He noted that AI tools are significantly helping fraudsters to generate realistic videos, including in local languages. He added that these tools are mostly sold in dark webs to exploit weaknesses in automated moderation systems that struggle to detect rapidly evolving Al-generated content.

“These scams are no longer crude,” he said. “AI allows scammers to scale persuasion. They can create believable content quickly, test different messages and adapt faster than many moderation systems can respond.”

He identified weak advertiser verification, Nigeria’s digital governance gap, the ability to operate multiple accounts, and gaps in the moderation of local-language content as factors exploited by malicious actors seeking to distribute deceptive ads at scale.

Another victim, Meekness Victor, said after losing money to multiple collapsed investment schemes, including Racksterli, SRA, and MMM, she had sworn off online investments entirely. But in March 2025, within her feed, a TikTok advert promoted an investment platform, CBEX, an AI trading system that guaranteed a 100 per cent Return on Investment (ROI) in just 30 days.

Mr Adenola noted that AI-generated content introduces new challenges for both regulators and technology companies as realistic synthetic media can be produced quickly and at low cost.

“What used to require a production team can now be done by one person using readily available AI tools. That changes the scale of the threat completely,” he said.

He, however, called for a proactive approach to Nigeria’s digital governance frameworks to curb the spread of digital fraud.

“Nigeria needs proactive laws that hold platforms to high standards to ensure they own strong moderation systems that prevent fraudulent contents from slipping through,” he said.

TikTok’s removal policy vs reality

Responding to questions about the adverts identified during this investigation, Tiktok’s Head of Communications for Sub-Saharan Africa, Keagile Makgoba, said the platform had removed the adverts flagged by this reporter.

“In this case you shared, we can confirm that the relevant ads that you shared have been removed from the platform,” Ms Makgoba wrote to our reporter in an e-mail.

She noted that the platform makes efforts to prevent scams on the platform, including investment in detection and review of fraudulent ads and content.

“TikTok prohibits fraudulent, deceptive, and misleading advertising, and where we identify violations, we take action against the ad and, where appropriate, the advertiser’s account,” she added.

While the removal claim or the efficiency of the policy cannot be independently confirmed, this investigation found that scam ads remain prevalent on Tiktok. This reporter has since collected over 20 additional scam ads on the platform.

In response to questions about AI-enabled fraud and platform responsibility, NITDA said digital platforms have obligations to implement effective safeguards against deceptive and fraudulent content.

The agency noted that platforms have been compelled to strengthen advertiser verification processes, improve detection systems and respond quickly when harmful content is identified.