Since the beginning of this year, online scams have been on a rise in India and new cases keep coming up every other day. Despite warnings, many people are still falling victim to these scams, losing their hard-earned money. Scammers often approach people on messaging apps or social media, offering part-time jobs that promise easy money.
In a recent case, a 34-year-old techie from Pune lost more than Rs 17 lakh when he tried to make some extra money online. He had clicked on a part time job offer that he came across on social media and got engangled in the scammer’s web.
Pune techie loses Rs 17 lakh in online scam
According to a Times Now report, the victim saw an ad on social media for a part-time job where you could earn money by liking videos. He started doing the tasks they gave him from December 1 to December 6. When he realized something was wrong, he reported it to the cybercrime cell on December 7, and the police started looking into it. The victim, as per the report, lost Rs 17.6 lakh in the process.
The scammers took the money from the person’s account and sent it to different places like Kochi, Jaipur, Malda, and Itarasi. The details of the case haven’t been divulged but usually, in scams like these, the fraudsters try to make the victim trust them by giving them a little money first. Then, they convince them to invest more money, promising even bigger returns. This goes on until the victim figures out that it’s all a trick and ends up losing their hard-earned money in the process.
There are a couple of things that people can keep in mind in order to stay safe from such scams.
Firstly, it is best to apply for part-time jobs through authentic portals dedicated to the same like LinkedIn, Naukri.com, Indeed, etc. However, if you must apply for jobs via other means, perform a thorough check of the person who is offering the job and check how legitimate he/she is. Ask them for details like their name, the name of their company, etc.
A simple Google search at times can help you to identify if the company that is offering the job even exists or not. Also, if you get a ‘job offer’ document, read it thoroughly. Grammatical mistakes, sentence inconsistencies can point out that the document has not been drafted by a professional and is most probably fake.
Next, be extremely cautious about filling out your personal information like name, phone number etc, and ensure that the same is entered on credible websites only.
Finally, never transfer money into a stranger’s bank account and do not share your banking credentials with anyone. Reputed companies will never ask you for any kind of money to give you a job.
