Scam Watch: We See You

🚨 LATEST SCAMMER CAUGHT 🚨

Mrs Evan Kate

NO, WE HAVEN’T FOUND ZANGI… BUT WE FOUND YOU 🚨

CASE FILE: SUSPECTED SCAM. Reported. Exhibit A: “I can help you if you have your activation money.”

• Asked for “activation money” up front. Classic BUT BEFORE scam.
• Tried to move the chat onto Zangi, a private messaging app, away from TikTok’s reporting.
• Profile photo blurred; it may be stolen from a real person.

Money owed to you is never released by money paid by you.

Right then. If you’ve landed here because a lovely stranger on TikTok says you’ve won a prize, a giveaway or a mountain of crypto profit, and all you need to do is pay a tiny little fee first, sit down, put the kettle on and keep your card in your pocket.

And to the accounts running that script: hello. Yes, you. Hi, “Mrs Evans”-style scam personas, we see you. We’ve read your lines so many times we could do them at panto. The “congratulations”, the “limited time”, the dramatic pause before the BUT BEFORE. Lovely work. Shame it’s going on the wall.

This page is Found It First’s running guide to the cons doing the rounds on TikTok: how they work, how to spot them, and how to report them. We don’t guess who’s behind an account. We just show the script, and the script gives itself away every time.

The script decoded

This is advance fee fraud: you’re persuaded to pay an upfront fee for money, a prize or goods that never arrive. Nearly every version follows the same few steps. Here they are, line by line, with what they actually mean.

1. “Congratulations! You’ve been selected as a winner 🎉”

Translation: You didn’t enter anything. Nobody drew your name. You’ve been “selected” because you replied, followed or commented, and that makes you a target.

2. “This giveaway is sponsored by [big brand / famous creator]”

Translation: A name borrowed to make the con look legit. Real brands run giveaways from their own verified accounts, with published terms, and they don’t slide into your DMs first.

3. “Your prize of £5,000 / an iPhone / your crypto profits is ready to release”

Translation: The bait. It’s always big enough to get you excited, but just about believable enough that you don’t laugh.

4. “BUT BEFORE you can claim or withdraw, you need to pay a small fee”

Translation: This is the whole scam. The “delivery fee”, “tax”, “verification fee”, “release fee” or “unlock fee” is the only real money in the story, and it’s yours. A genuine prize never costs you money to receive.

5. “Pay by gift card, crypto or bank transfer to this account, it’s faster”

Translation: They want payment methods that are hard to trace and hard to get back. Gift cards for a prize? Behave.

6. “You must pay within 30 minutes or the prize goes to someone else”

Translation: Panic button. The rush (and the “keep this between us”) is there so you don’t stop and think, or ask anyone.

7. “Payment received! Just one more fee and it’s yours”

Translation: The never-ending tap. Pay once and there’s always another fee: “anti-money-laundering check”, “insurance”, “account upgrade”. The prize never arrives, because there isn’t one.

The crypto “withdrawal fee” trap

Same con, different outfit.

How it plays out

1. A friendly account (often a “mentor” scam persona such as “Mrs Evans”) DMs you about crypto trading profits.
2. You’re shown a slick “platform” where your balance grows fast. The numbers are fake: they’re just typed in.
3. You try to withdraw. “BUT BEFORE you can withdraw, you need to pay…” a tax, a release fee, an anti-money-laundering fee or an “account upgrade”.
4. You pay, and then there’s another fee. There is never a withdrawal.

Crypto red flags, told you straight

• Guaranteed or very fast returns.
• A platform you’ve never heard of, reached only through their link.
• Any fee to get your own money out. Real exchanges take fees from the balance; they don’t ask you to send more.
• Payment asked in crypto, gift cards or to a “colleague’s” account.
• Pressure: “offer ends tonight”, “your account will be frozen”.

Check before you trust

• Search the firm on the FCA Warning List and the FCA Register.
• Beware “recovery” services promising to get your crypto back: that’s often the same scammers again.

If you can’t take money out without paying more in, it’s not your money and it never was.

Red flags checklist

If you tick even one of these, stop:

• You’ve “won” something you never entered, or before the closing date
• They messaged you first, from an account you don’t follow or a private account
• You have to pay before you get paid
• They want gift cards, crypto or a transfer to a personal account
• There’s a countdown or a “last chance” deadline, or you’re told to keep it quiet
• They ask for photos of your ID, bank details or a selfie “for verification”
• They send a link, or ask you to install an app or “remote support” tool
• The account is new, has few posts, or copies a famous name with an extra letter or underscore
• Profits look amazing but you can’t withdraw without a “release fee”
• They get pushy, or guilt-trip you, when you ask questions

What to do

Told you straight, here’s the drill:

1. Don’t pay anything. Not a “small test fee”, not “just the delivery”. Nothing.
2. Don’t share your ID, bank details, passwords or one-time codes. No real prize needs a photo of your passport.
3. Don’t click their links or install any app they send. Some of these give the other person access to your phone or accounts.
4. Screenshot everything, then report the account in the TikTok app. Press and hold the message, or go to the account’s profile and tap the three dots, then choose Report. Then block them.
5. Report it to Report Fraud (formerly Action Fraud) if you live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland: reportfraud.police.uk, or call 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, call Police Scotland on 101. Careful: the official service ends in .police.uk. Look-alike sites such as actionfraud.org.uk are private claims firms, not the police.
6. If you’ve already paid, call your bank straight away on the number on the back of your card. The sooner they know, the better your chance of stopping or recovering the payment. Since October 2024, UK payment providers must reimburse victims of authorised push payment fraud, subject to conditions, though a bank may deduct an excess of up to £100.
7. Got a scam text too? Forward it to 7726. It’s free, and most UK phone networks use it to investigate and block the sender. Scam emails, screenshots or QR codes can go to report@phishing.gov.uk.

Wall of Shame

Accounts we’ve spotted running the script. Every entry is a suspected scam, based only on what the screenshots show. We name the handle, we show the line, and we let the script do the talking.

A message to the scammers (the fun bit)

Hi “Mrs Evans”. We’ve seen the script. We know the “BUT BEFORE” bit is coming. So do our readers now. 👋

Spotted one? Send it in

Had a “you’ve won, BUT BEFORE…” message? Send us the screenshots and the account handle. Blur your own name and details first, and we’ll check it and add it to the wall if it fits.

If you’ve lost money, call your bank and report it before anything else. Your money comes first, the Wall of Shame comes second.

The small print

Entries on this page are reported or suspected scams, based on screenshots sent to us or seen by us at the time. We show account handles and what was said, and blur victims’ details. We don’t claim to know who is behind any account, and nothing here says any real, named person has committed a crime. “Mrs Evans” is a scam persona, not a real individual. This page is general information, not legal or financial advice. If you think an entry is wrong, or it’s about your account, contact us and we’ll look at it promptly.

Sources: financial.org.uk: upfront fees · Bank of Scotland: social media scams · F-Secure: TikTok scams · Which? · FCA · Report Fraud

Last checked 2 November 2026.