Getting a part-time job to earn some extra money on the side is something that a lot of people are interested in. After all, who doesn’t like getting some extra cash? And this is the tendency that scammers have been exploiting in the last couple of months. On the pretext of offering a part-time job to people, many scammers actually rob them off of their hard-earned money. In most cases, to gain the victim’s trust, the scammers deposit some money in to their accounts and then entice them with promises of bigger profits.
This is exactly what happened with a Manguluru based software professional, who clicked on an Instagram ad to get a part-time job. Here is what exactly happened and how you can stay safe from such incidents.
Woman clicks on Instagram ad, loses money
According to a report in The Hindu, the victim lodged a complaint with Kankanady police and said that she saw an advertisement on Instagram that promised earnings. “You can earn,” the ad stated and the woman, trying to make some extra money, messaged the WhatsApp number given in the ad saying ‘I am interested’. The number mentioned on the ad was, 9899183689. The woman was then asked to connect to @khannika9912 on Telegram.
The woman then downloaded the app and talked to the aforementioned person, who promised her a 30 per cent return on her investment. The victim then sent Rs 7,000 to a UPI ID via Google Pay. Soon, as promised, she got Rs 9,100 in her account. Hence, she began trusting the scammer and was asked to invest a larger sum.
The woman then transferred Rs 20,000 to the same UPI ID. However, she was told that the account was blocked hence no money was received. The woman then transferred an additional Rs 10,50,525. After this, the woman realised that she had been cheated and approached the police.
How to stay safe from such scams
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, be very careful before filling out your personal information like name, phone number etc, and ensure that the same is entered on credible websites only.
At last, 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
Source By: indiatoday
