TikTok-Based ATM Scam Takes In Over $15 Million

New York City has a long-running summer jobs initiative called the Summer Youth Employment Program. Its website describes itself as “the nation’s largest youth employment program” and notes that it provides access to opportunities that can “strengthen [participants’] social, civic, and leadership skills.” All of that is terrific and worth applauding. Unfortunately, something seems to have gone very wrong with one element of this year’s program — and it’s led to scammers making off with around $17 million.

In an article for The New York Times, Ed Shanahan and Chelsia Rose Marcius chronicled just how the scam played out. As they explain, SYEP participants who don’t have bank accounts are given debit cards where they can withdraw their paychecks as cash from ATMs. Seems like an elegant workaround to make sure everyone working a job through SYEP can be paid, either via direct deposit or through the debit card.

Except this year, something went wrong, and over the course of just three days, a lot of money went missing. According to the Times, law enforcement is currently investigating precisely how all of this could happen. The investigation is still underway, and a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Youth and Community Development had no comment on some of the as-yet-unanswered questions about it.

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The Times reports that the scam spread through TikTok, with people offering SYEP participants money in exchange for their cards. Other voices on TikTok took a firm stance against such scamming, with TikTok user Tyreak Told You posting a forceful criticism of people taking advantage of SYEP participants. “Everything is not a hustle,” Tyreak said at one point.

Tyreak Told You’s video also raises a question of whether this ATM scam involved a similar mechanism to a Chase debit card scam that took place last summer. NPR reported at the time that the scam allowed Chase cardholders to deposit fraudulent checks and then withdraw large amounts of cash. There’s still plenty more to discover about this new scam, and it’s worth keeping an eye on in the weeks to come.