How Any Creator or Influencer TikTok Account Can Be Taken Over Using Fake Brand Deals

If you’re a creator on TikTok, getting contacted by a brand isn’t just a nice bonus – it is often a personal goal. Whether you’re posting for fun, building a side hustle, or trying to turn content creation into a full-time job, outreach from brands is also part of that process. And that’s exactly what scammers are counting on.

Fake brand deals have become one of the easiest ways for attackers to take over creator and influencer accounts on TikTok.

When a “Great Opportunity” Becomes a Threat

It all begins with a message from a brand expressing interest in your content, offering compensation, and sending what looks like a legitimate campaign brief or asset package. The tone is professional, the timing plausible, and the offer exciting.

Scammers intentionally mimic the look and feel of brand outreach because creators do engage with real opportunities. They may contact you via TikTok DMs, email addresses in your bio, or linked contact forms.

Often, simply opening a file or previewing what looks like a standard campaign brief can trigger scripts that harvest login tokens or session credentials, meaning the attacker gains access without you ever typing a password.

A Broader Threat Landscape: Social Media and Scams

Fake brand deal attacks are part of a much larger trend in which social media platforms have overtaken more traditional digital channels as a primary vector for scams.

According to the Bitdefender 2025 Consumer Cybersecurity Survey, one in seven people reported falling victim to a scam in the past year. Overall, seven in 10 encountered scams. Many of these schemes are encountered right in the social feeds people use every day. Among the most common scam types is credential phishing (19%), which directly leads to account compromise when successful.

High-Profile Incidents Remind Us of the Range of Risks

While most fake brand deal takeovers are rooted in social engineering, there have also been isolated, high-profile exploits demonstrating a broader spectrum of threats.

In 2024, several celebrity and major brand TikTok accounts, including those associated with well-known media organizations and public figures, were reportedly compromised through a zero-day vulnerability in TikTok’s direct messaging system that delivered malicious content, which executed when opened.

TikTok’s own support page on hacked accounts highlights common indicators of compromise:

• Password or phone number changed without your consent
• Altered username or profile details
• Videos deleted or new posts appearing without you uploading them
• Messages sent that you didn’t write

When users encounter these changes, TikTok recommends actions like resetting the password, linking a phone number, and removing unfamiliar devices from the account.

By the time these symptoms appear, though, an attacker may already have access tokens or session data that keeps them logged in,  meaning creators often discover the takeover only after it’s already well underway.

The Aftermath

Once an attacker has access to your TikTok account, the consequences can be severe, including:

• Unauthorized posts or livestreams that damage your brand or violate guidelines
• Scam messages sent from your account to your followers
• Reputation loss and followers lost to scams or spam
• Accounts being sold or repurposed in underground markets

What Every Creator Should Do Now

Protecting yourself doesn’t require becoming a cybersecurity expert, but it does mean adopting habits that reduce your risk:

• Verify every unsolicited brand offer: Check official brand channels and avoid taking materials at face value.
• Keep credentials unique and secure: Use a password manager and strong, unique passwords for each service.
• Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA): While not a silver bullet, it adds a vital second layer of defense.
• Be cautious with campaign files: Avoid opening or downloading materials from unknown senders.
• Use trusted security tools on both PCs and mobile devices to detect and block malicious behavior early and protect your accounts, identity, followers and livelihood.

Many TikTok creators don’t operate on just one platform. Brand outreach, recovery emails, and audience engagement often happen across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and email.

Bitdefender Security for Creators helps protect the accounts creators rely on most by detecting malicious links and files, blocking infostealer malware used in account takeovers, and monitoring suspicious activity across platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Securing the broader creator ecosystem helps reduce the risk that one compromised account can be used to pivot into others.