Beware of part-time job scam; a crypto scam

Scam artists know no bounds. A new job scam is spreading on social media. Online scammers are sliding into people’s DMs and feeds and are promising easy part-time work and extra cash. They gain people’s trust and trick them into investing money. However, once a large amount is invested, people lose all their money. Several cases of such incidents have been recorded in the past few months with the most recent from Kolkata where thirty years old women lost more than Rs 8 lakh in total after falling for a part-time-job scam.

There are many types of crypto scams. Some of the most common include:

1. Social engineering scams
2. Bitcoin investment schemes
3. Rug pull scams.
4. Romance scams
5. Phishing scams
6. Ponzi schemes
7. Employment offers and fraudulent employees.
8. Flash loan attack

In that mentioned case, the Kolkata women was lured into the scam on the promise of good returns for performing online tasks such as liking some YouTube videos. A similar case was reported from a 33-year-old engineer from Pune.  He was scammed out of Rs 8.96 lakh between April 14 and 20 by fraudsters offering ‘like video and earn’ online tasks. Actually, all of them lured into the social engineering scam. So, this is a clear example of crypto scam. Crypto scams are like any other financial scam and where money is concerned, scams always follow. And the same is true with cryptocurrency.

Scammers have also used phishing techniques to trap educated housewives and students, along with unemployed people looking for additional income. Scammers claim that they are benefited by these apps as part of their ‘multi-level marketing’ strategy and to generate incentives by performing easy tasks like purchasing goods, etc. with an X amount and then get an X 200 percent benefit. A few days later, after gaining the trust of targets, they requested to load more money and perform more tasks in order to be able to withdraw his earnings. Actually, the whole process is a never-ending loop, and once a large amount is invested by the victim, the fraudster stops responding over the chat and the victim loses all earnings, including his actual investments as shown in the dashboard/wallet.

 Some signs of an online job scam:

•  A recruiter offers you the job immediately without verifying your work experience or doesn’t ask for references.
• The job pays a lot of money for little work.
• The job posting mentions quick money, drastic income changes overnight, etc.
• The contact email address is personal.
• Using keywords like Part-time jobs with full-time pay, Free work from home jobs, quick money etc. Beware of these app-based part-time job scams. Wherever else you might be searching, use caution and always consider the signs of a work-from-home job scam and stay safe and find legitimate, real online jobs. Scams and fraudulent practices are a growing concern in India, and consumers need to be aware of the warning signs and take steps to protect themselves. Legal consumer protection can be an effective way for victims of scams to seek justice and compensation. But remember, prevention is always better than cure when comes to scams.

Source:(indiatoday.in, techtarget.com, flexjobs.com, vakilsearch.com)