A fake TikTok shop is Surfshark’s most-blocked phishing scam – how to steer clear

Blocked phishing attempts rose 83% in six months, according to Surfshark, largely due to one TikTok shop. Here’s how to spot the red flags.

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October 27, 2026, 11:30 am ET

ZDNET

ZDNET’s key takeaways

Surfshark: Global phishing blocks rose 524% from April to September.

A TikTok Shop phishing scam accounted for nearly one in five blocks.

The counterfeit shop is still active.

TikTok Shop shoppers, beware: A counterfeit TikTok Shop generated over 320,000 phishing blocks between May and September 2026, or 19% of all global phishing domain blocks during that time, according to a Monday report from VPN provider Surfshark.

As of this month, the domain is still active — a worrisome sign as we approach the Black Friday shopping period.

Surfshark analyzed data from its web content blocker between April and September 2026, including block requests categorized by its tool as phishing, the domains associated with those requests, and the monthly number of devices with its phishing protection enabled globally.

Also: Suspicious calendar invite? It’s a trap – how the scam works

Even as the number of devices using Surfshark to protect against cyber threats expanded, phishing activity also grew massively: Monthly phishing blocks rose from 104,962 in April to 655,024 in September, a 524% increase.

During that time period, the number of protected devices rose by 241%, but blocks per Surfshark-protected device also rose 83%, from 0.74 to 1.35 — which means the growth in protected devices doesn’t fully explain the increase in phishing block requests.

The counterfeit TikTok Shop’s activity remained high in October: For the first 20 days of the month, it remained the most-blocked phishing domain, according to Surfshark’s data, accounting for 18% of the global phishing blocks during that time. The Surfshark report does not reveal the domain name.

Also: Your iPhone can spot scams for you with iOS 27 – but you have to opt in

TikTok Shop offers extensive scam protection instructions, including for phishing links. To protect yourself while shopping, especially during Black Friday when scams can increase, do the following:

For more, check out 10 signs someone is monitoring or accessing your account and how to remove your personal data from the internet.

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