Man cheated out of £100 after he manages to beat scam artist’s challenge

A man who was on track to successfully complete a street challenge to dangle 100 seconds from a metal bar to win £100 was left furious - after the people leading the contest scammed him out of his earnings by tickling him and yanking at his body.

The ripped dude was taking part in the challenge at a bus stop in London in a clip that went viral on TikTok. It showed him easily clinging to the bar, but one of the men operating the challenge looking increasingly agitated as the prospect of paying out the jackpot looked increasingly likely.

Typically, a contestant pays £10 to enter, with the chance to win £100 if they can hold onto a bar for the full amount of time.

But the clip shows a man poking, prodding, and tickling the contestant. When the dangling man eventually kicks out at his tormentor, he’s grabbed by the shoulder and pulled down from the bar.

Tik Tok

For those who don’t often hold onto bars for any length of time at all, it’s important to understand that 100 seconds of bar-holding-onto is very difficult. In fact, it’s such a feat that £100 seems low, to us.

Tik Tok

There were audible groans from the gathered crowd who were excited to see a man on track to defy the seemingly impossible odds - only to be thwarted by some very shoddy behaviour. It’s pretty safe to say the pair scammed him out of cash.

Tik Tok

In the comments, TikTok users showed widespread support for the man scammed.

“Me and the bois would’ve break they stuff and dip,” wrote espinozza.a.

“He was literally touching you below the belt then got upset when you kicked him to get away,” added Mason Micklos, referring to a widespread rule in fighting that asks those involved in fighting to not hit in this area.

The video has racked up around 3.6 million views, and many people online are citing similar scams. Whether or not this will prevent people from trying to earn money on the street by paying to do physical tests is unclear.

Similar videos have proven popular on TikTok - typically, those operating the challenges have bars which roll while held, which makes it even harder to complete. Wide grips, like the one featured in the video - are often banned, too.