Revealed: how coyotes and scammers use TikTok to sell migrants the American dream

The video platform has become a place for migrants to seek and share information, but experts fear exploitation is on the rise

• Read the new Guardian series exploring the increasing power and reach of TikTok

The TikTok video starts like most other travel snaps on the platform do, with selfie shots showing the user* and his companions sitting on a plane and walking through the airport.

But unlike the highly curated images of hotels and tourist attractions typical of this genre on TikTok, the video quickly takes an uncharacteristic turn, showing the user sleeping in camps, at one point traveling by horseback and ultimately scaling what he calls la famosa frontera de la muerte" or the famous border of death" between the US and Mexico.