The world has become increasingly digital, with most people relying on the internet for communication, entertainment, shopping, and work. While this has brought about many conveniences, it has also opened up new avenues for scammers and fraudsters to prey on unsuspecting victims. One such scam is the online part-time job scam, which has been reported across the country, especially in Pune, Maharashtra, where many people have lost money after falling for a part-time job offer they received online.

The scam begins with a text message on the victim’s mobile phone, offering them a part-time job with the promise of extra income. When the victim replies to the message, they are directed to join a group on an instant messaging chat app, where they are given instructions on how to complete online tasks to earn money. The scammers usually pay the victim a small amount as a “welcome bonus” to win their trust and promise them good returns for assessing corporate travel management (CTM) businesses. The scammers then ask the victim to complete some pre-paid tasks to earn more returns and better results.

Falling for the scammers’ promises, the victim makes several transfers until they realize they are being cheated when the scammers ask for more money. In the case reported by the Pune Times Mirror, the victim, a 56-year-old advertisement filmmaker, lost nearly Rs 1 crore to the scammers between September 25 and November 5. The scammers first asked the victim to pay Rs 21,990 in two installments for pre-paid jobs before assigning him the task of rating and reviewing a travel agency. They then returned Rs 24,809 to the victim and convinced him to pay Rs 80,000 for eight reviews, giving him a total of Rs 94,840, including the commission.

The scammers then asked the victim for Rs 1 lakh for a job and did not give him the money back with the commission. When he asked for it, they demanded Rs 35.25 lakh from him, claiming they would return the whole amount with a higher commission. The victim made 58 transactions to different bank accounts through net banking, G-Pay, and Paytm services, and after paying the asked amount and completing the given task, the victim did not receive his commission. Instead, the fraudsters urged him to invest more and clear all his debts, including any pending ones.

The victim realized he had been duped when he did not get his money or the commission after his second transfer of Rs 61.32 lakh. Later, the scammers even cut off all contact with him when the victim refused to take on any more pre-paid tasks. The case has been filed under sections 419, 420, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 66 C and 66 (D) of the Information Technology Act, and the cyber police station has registered an FIR. The police have also asked the messenger application to share the details of the messages exchanged between the victim and the scammers and have requested the banks for the transaction details.

To avoid falling victim to such scams, people are advised to be cautious of any online job offers and report any messages that promise part-time jobs online. The following are some tips to avoid part-time job scams:

1. Verify the company’s existence and details by researching it before applying.

2. Avoid illegitimate jobs by checking the security measures of websites.

3. Trust your gut feeling and avoid offers that seem too good to be true.

4. Protect your personal and financial information and do not share it over email, text or phone.

5. Do not click any links from unknown numbers or addresses in text messages or emails.

6. Do not pay to work or buy anything from the employer.

7. Look for signs of poor grammar, spelling, or professionalism in the communication and question it.