Scam Targeting Job Seekers on the Internet
If you’re looking for an extra source of income and want to get into part-time task-based jobs, beware of scammers lurking around to scam you out of your hard-earned money. Part-time job based scams have become quite a threat lately, with people losing millions, in some cases even millions.
Now, in the latest case, two men from Thane cumulatively lost a whopping Rs 28,000 in two separate incidents. Both the victims fell victim to an online assignment/job scam, as reported by Times of India.
In the first case, a man named Alhad Ranade, who runs a computer repair shop in Dombivli, lost Rs 17,000. He claims to have received messages on both WhatsApp and Instagram from a person promising him extra income. In return, all he had to do was give hotel reviews on Google. Later, he was asked to buy bitcoins with a guaranteed return of 20-30 percent, but this was obviously a scam, and when the man asked for the money he had invested, the accused was unable to transfer it back.
Much the same happened to Dhiraj Tolan from Ambernath when he lost Rs 11,000.
“The suspects contacted the complainant on WhatsApp. He was asked to perform simple online tasks like liking and reviewing various products to improve public perception of the brands,” police said.
The victim was initially offered a small amount of money to earn trust, but was later asked to invest more for “handsome rewards”. And he never got his money back either.
How can you be safe?
It is paramount to understand that no one in their right mind would offer you easy money, especially for simple tasks like liking YouTube videos or writing reviews on Google.
If you get such an opportunity on any social media platform, make sure to report it and never respond to such scammers. Also, don’t share personally identifiable information because it can be used against you.
In addition, you should always contact the relevant authorities and report if a similar incident has happened to you, instead of remaining silent in order to protect others.
