Uncovering 2023’s Most Deceptive Online Scams: The Reality Behind SIM Swap Fraud, Bogus Job Opportunities & More

It’s no secret that online scams have started affecting many Indians today as the frequency and sophistication of scams increase. Scammers are constantly trying to find new ways to trick unsuspecting victims into traps that allow them to siphon off their hard-earned money and in some cases even steal users’ identities.

This growing threat is starting to affect most users – across multiple platforms – whether it’s a job scam common on WhatsApp and Telegram or a fake army officer scam circulating on second-hand marketplaces and real estate sites.

Today, it is of utmost importance to be aware of the most common scams in the country in order to protect yourself from potential harm and loss. Here we learn about some of the most common online scams operating in the country, how they work and how to protect yourself from them.

The most common online scams in 2023:

Online job scams

Have you ever come across a text from a foreign number offering you a part-time or full-time opportunity to earn money by doing simple tasks like liking YouTube videos or writing product reviews and more? Well, these are complex scams that aim to steal your money by first gaining your trust after paying you small winnings, but later they ask you to invest substantial sums of money. Once you do, they will stop contacting you and never contact you again.

Apart from asking you to invest money, these scammers also ask you to reveal sensitive information about yourself like Aadhar information which they can further use to scam other people.

To protect yourself from this kind of scam, never answer them, accept calls or attract attractive offers of substantial monetary gains in a short period of time. Always remember that doing simple tasks won’t make them money, so how would they pay you? Be safe and prevent anyone who contacts you from offering you this kind of work.

SIM card exchange scam

The primary goal of SIM Swap scammers in this scam is to obtain personal information that they can use to cooperate with someone’s mobile network or even trick them into getting a duplicate SIM card. They can gain access to your SIM card after knowing your address details and Aadhar card details and this is likely to take some time to complete.

First, a scammer posing as a support agent, courier supplier, or someone else may contact you to ask for your address and share your identity. Next, they may send you phishing links or ask you to install random apps, but this only happens in some cases. in most of them, only a few phone calls are enough to collect user information and issue a duplicate SIM card based on that.

It’s likely that local telecom agents can be in cahoots with scammers to make this happen, but it’s more likely that you’ll end up revealing too much about yourself and it will backfire on you. To protect yourself from SIM Swap scams, never disclose addresses, Aadhar numbers or any other sensitive information like your PAN number that could be used to convince the telecom operator. In addition, you can use SIM lock to protect yourself.

Fake Army Officer Scam

Scammers have come up with a new way to collect money from people who post ads on second-hand platforms like Olx or real estate ads on platforms like Magicbricks and 99 acres. To gain people’s trust, they impersonate officers of Indian Army, CISF, Police and other government agencies. Worryingly, these scammers offer copies of genuine government cards like canteen cards, Indian Army ID cards, etc. to convince victims of the deal.

In most cases, these scammers make offers that are too good to be true. First, they usually don’t negotiate and this leaves the seller/buyer happy. Second, they offer to pay you directly, and this is where they are scamming you. Instead of sending money, they create UPI requests and in the heat of the moment, people accidentally send them money.

These scammers may also post ads for luxury or expensive items like iPhones on second-hand websites and usually list them at a price far below the market price. You can easily come across scam sellers with iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro models at around 40-50% cheaper than the market price. When you contact them they say they are in a remote location and ask if you can receive the phone via courier and without a second thought many send payments never to hear from them again.

Courier delivery scam

Scammers use fear to trick people with this scam. Mostly, they called unsuspecting victims pretending to be from a courier company like FedEx and said their packages were seized with “illegal substances” such as drugs, fake passports and multiple credit cards.

Next they ask you to contact a random police officer who would warn you of “consequences” and ask you to make a video call and then transfer money and charge you with money laundering or some other serious crime. you transfer the money for verification, the scammer runs away and you never hear from them again.

Moreover, they may even try to gain your trust by telling you that someone else may have used your Aadharia for a crime, but these are just tactics they have designed to fool innocent people.

In a variation of this scam, victims are asked to pay a nominal amount in courier cancellation or delivery charges. Clicking on a link sent by a fraudster posing as a transport agent will deduct the money from the user’s account.

Hoax of slaughtering pigs

As the name suggests, this scam involves earning the victim’s trust (fattening up the pig) and later metaphorically “slaughtering” it to get away with their money. Zerodha CEO Nikhil Kamath also warned users about the same and explained the analogy behind He said that the reason for this strange analogy is that scammers first build trust in their victim before exploiting them. This is like fattening a pig before slaughtering it.

Most often, they use the pretense of establishing a relationship, gaining trust by befriending someone – usually of the opposite sex – and then even pretending to be in love with the victim. Mostly these scams are done by using fake social media online profiles and scamming youngsters and people who may not understand a scam of this scale and scope. They may ask you to help them with money or ask for help in an emergency.

To avoid such scams, do not respond to job offers or random requests on messaging apps and social media, never download or click on foreign apps or links, and always think twice before making a decision.