Fake Drake TikTok fools everyone with bootleg merch scam

Music superstar Drake has become the latest celebrity to be used on TikTok as a way to scam fans into buying unofficial merch, and many are urging others to be careful. 

As TikTok has grown to become one of the biggest social media platforms out there, plenty of celebrities have gotten involved. Some have only dipped their toe in, posting one video and then not posting again, but some have gotten incredibly involved with trends and memes.

Naturally, as mainstream names become more involved, some tricksters take it upon themselves to try and use their names in order to get one over on some unsuspecting fans. 

We’ve seen it in the past with Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and others, but now it is the turn of Drake as the Canadian music superstar has become the latest victim of a spoof TikTok account trying to scam fans. 

Fake Drake TikTok finally banned after selling bootleg merch

The account ‘champaignpapi44’ popped up in late January and, like all of the other spoofs before it, started using clips from Drake’s actual social media profiles to create a bit of credibility. 

Naturally, some fans bought in and the account quickly amassed close to 200,000 followers and was even verified by TikTok itself. That popularity, though, saw the account turn into a scam attempt – adding links to buy merch and claiming that you could get an autograph from the ‘God’s Plan’ rapper himself.

It was quickly called out, however, by the likes of Noah Glenn Carter and others. “How do these accounts keep getting verified?” asked one fan, with many others noting that they’d seen it and believed it to be real at first.

The account has since been terminated by TikTok, but nothing is stopping other attempts from popping up in its place. 

Despite the verification, the numbers in the username – and the incorrect spelling of his champagnepapi handle – should be a dead giveaway to it being fake.

If you have ordered anything from the account’s links, you’re probably not going to receive anything or if you do, it’s hardly going to be the same as official merchandise. So, just be warned.