TikTok Pro is a sham don't download says Police

Hyderabad: The Telangana police have asked people to beware of TikTok Pro and not to download the app. Messages asking people to download TikTok Pro has been doing the rounds on WhatsApp. The cops and cyber experts have warned that this could be spyware or malware.

The WhatsApp message claims that TikTok is now only available in TikTok Pro and asks people to download the app by clicking on a link. The app link, however, is not available on the Play Store or Apple Store.

Rishi Dwivedi, a cybersecurity researcher and ethical hacker, told NewsMeter, "There is no such app on the Play Store. So it is a bit shady. If it's a malware and a user has given it permission to access the phone, then the user may be giving access to bank account details and personal information. If the user gives access to his/her phone then the hacker has complete control over the phone and can do anything.”

Sai Prasad, the Assistant director,Digital Forensics, CFSL, Hyderabad, said, “The app will look like TikTok and will ask for permission to access the phone’s camera and mic. The app, however, doesn’t do anything once you grant these permissions. But these permissions may be misused and some form of malware may be at work in the background ,which may hamper the performance of your phone and also battery life these kind of scam is called phishing scam.”

The police officials have told as of now there are no cases reported based on these scam, but police officials have warned public not to download such apps.