Scammers also use phishing techniques to lure educated housewives and students, as well as unemployed people looking for extra income.
Posted Date – Tue, 11/29/22 at 12:50pm

In India, nearly 30% of teens who are active on the Internet are victims of “social engineering” scams. A part-time job scam is when people are tricked into spending money on starting a business that never happens, or into doing unpaid work.
Scammers also use phishing techniques to lure educated housewives and students, as well as unemployed people looking for extra income.
Keywords such as ‘make money online’, ‘part time jobs’, ‘easy second income’ are used by fraudsters and criminals to match their ads to the terms people are searching for.
Most of these sites either redirect to the messaging platform, or have an embedded messaging platform link that, when clicked, redirects to the chat again.
In order to obtain huge amounts of money, scammers often pretend to be the person in charge of a well-known investment and trading company, prompting the victim to pay processing fees, franchise fees or one-time registration fees.
Such scammers also steal funds through social engineering crimes (i.e. penalty clauses) and under the guise of “mistakes” made by victims while working part-time jobs.
Operating Mode: –
a) Victims are lured by means of part-time job opportunities and other advertisements on social media/messaging platforms etc., with promises of high returns such as doubling their income in a short period of time.Social media ads, text messages, and WhatsApp messages often include links directly prompting users to join Telegram or WhatsApp groups
b) Also, they are advised to download apps by clicking on APK (Android) and .DMZ (iOS) i.e. these apps are not present in Play Store or App Store
c) Victims are influenced by viewing numerous videos and screenshots in groups made by social media influencers, bloggers and mentors who claim to benefit greatly from these apps
d) Investment links sent via chat have a referral code (i.e. referral rewards go to the corresponding social media influencer, blogger and mentor)
e) Scammers claim they benefit from these apps as part of their “multi-level marketing” strategy and generate incentives by performing tasks such as purchasing items for X amount and then earn X 200%
f) Once the victim pays the money, his account is activated and tasks are assigned.In order to gain the trust of the victims, they usually promise a 200% return on their first investment and allow them to withdraw the earned money as shown in the dashboard/wallet
g) Once the victim gets his first profit, he is lured to perform additional missions, including loading more money and performing more missions, for which he earns similar rewards, which are displayed in the dashboard/ in wallet
h) The victim is unable to withdraw the money shown in the dashboard/wallet and is required to load more money and perform more tasks to withdraw his earnings, this process keeps looping and once a large amount is invested by the victim, the fraudster Stop replying via chat and the victim loses all income including actual investments shown in the dashboard/wallet
“Keywords” to consider:-
The options below may indicate an application-based part-time job scam.
* Work from home for free
* Fast money
* Unlimited earning potential
* Multi-level marketing model (money in the wallet)
* Workshop on investment opportunities used by fake social media influencers on YouTube, Instagram and Telegram.
* Part-time jobs with full-time salary via SMS and WhatsApp messages
Precaution: –
a) Some common signs of pitfalls to avoid
*Promises unusually high guaranteed returns
* Requires high initial investment, namely franchise fee or processing fee, etc.
* Complicated and unsustainable business model, i.e. pyramid model based on multi-level marketing
* Promise to indemnify for damages
* Invest in apps not listed in the App Store or Play Store
b) Do a little due diligence instead of blindly trusting investment advisors.
* Seek appropriate regulatory or compliance approval.
* Do not issue checks in advance.
* Regularly check account statements
* Watch the show “Promises and Realities”.
* Do not make financial transactions on apps other than apps downloaded from the App Store or Play Store
* Do not conduct financial transactions over the phone or during screen sharing sessions.
* These companies are not registered with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA)
What to do when you get scammed:-
Report the scam to your local cybercrime police authority or register a complaint at https://www.cybercrime.gov.in or call toll-free 1930 immediately.