Have been getting quite a lot of work-from-home job affords on WhatsApp currently, with a wage of Rs 20,000 for simply in the future’s work? If your first thought was that it is too good to be true, you then’re proper. These texts are nothing however a part of an more and more standard marketing campaign by fraudsters to steal your cash.
While some scams could seem apparent, equivalent to those who declare that you’ve got received a giant lottery, others that declare to supply WFH are refined and stable. Recently, a girl from Maharashtra fell sufferer to one in all these and misplaced Rs 15.22 lakh to the fraudsters earlier than she may perceive that she was being cheated. In the sunshine of those incidents, we’ve got determined to record down probably the most frequent WhatsApp scams and how one can keep away from them.
do business from home scams
Perhaps the commonest of its variety is the WFH rip-off the place scammers ship texts in batches to massive numbers of individuals. If you reply, you’ll be requested to create a Telegram “Tasks” account, the place the scammer will ship you “Tasks” to carry out. The enjoyable half is that you simply really must pay to get the brand new duties, and the scammer will hold sending them whereas additionally assuring you that you’ll finally be rewarded. But like most scams, the reward isn’t paid and the scammer disappears once you play foul and begin asking too many questions.
They might learn like the next:
The best method to keep away from such scams is to fully ignore any job affords associated to WFH
The best method to keep away from such scams is to fully ignore any WFH associated job affords. Recruiters sometimes do their hiring via established job portals equivalent to LinkedIn and Naukri, the place they’ll join with a wider viewers. And there is no motive to personally attain out to random folks via chat apps.
electrical energy invoice rip-off
Several customers have been receiving messages on WhatsApp and thru SMS from unknown numbers, claiming that their energy will likely be reduce if they don’t pay the invoice. But as a substitute of redirecting you to an official authorities portal, you might be requested to contact on a sure quantity.
This technique of SMS phishing or “smishing” appears to be fairly widespread. (Image credit score: Various customers through The Indian Express)
“A family friend of ours was robbed of Rs 25000 by cyber fraud. His daughter received an SMS saying that her electricity meter would be disconnected today for non-payment of dues. The daughter sent the phone to the father. The father called on that number and he was asked to download an APP to make the payment. On downloading he was asked to make a trial payment of Rs. 5. On doing so he found that Rs 25000 has been debited from his account,” wrote Twitter consumer Digambar Karekar (@drkarekar) in a tweet.
As we talked about earlier, the electrical energy board usually notifies folks about their overdue payments via automated calls or official textual content messages. They by no means request you to name any explicit quantity. So, if any such ‘info’ comprises an unknown quantity, it’s a rip-off. The finest plan of action can be to dam the sender.
‘KBC’ fraud
American ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’ An adaptation of the franchise, ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ is a super-popular TV recreation present in India. You’ve most likely already heard about it, and so have hundreds of thousands of others, which makes its credibility a must-exploit for scammers. Keep in thoughts that the KBC present just isn’t linked in any method to the rip-off. Alam is that the fraudsters are misusing the title of the present.
Apart from utilizing such posters, KBC fraudsters might also name you to declare that you’ve got received the lottery.
The normal sample right here is a picture/video ahead claiming that you’ve got received the KBC lottery, and to look ‘satisfied’, these pictures normally comprise photos of the present’s host Amitabh Bachchan, together with some random enterprise moguls. with. further contact.
Somewhere under, you may see a cellphone quantity that contacting you’ll join you to the fraudster. That fraudster initially asks you to pay a ‘refundable’ processing charge to assert the lottery, and for those who comply, they could attempt to extort more cash from you. Again, the easiest way to keep away from falling into such scams is to disregard them. The present is the play-to-win sort the place it’s a must to always grind via inquiries to get rewarded, and distributing freebies is not the way it rolls out.
whatsapp qr code rip-off
You normally use QR codes to make funds on UPI in India. But scammers can provide them a twist and use them to extort cash from you. One manner to do that is to ship a message to folks saying they’ve received one thing – for instance, a money prize, together with a QR code. The message will immediate you to scan the code, enter a specified quantity and ‘obtain’ the money. But as a substitute of receiving the cash, you’ll really be paying the fraudsters, making this technique a extra stable rip-off.
The best method to keep away from falling prey to such scams is to grasp how QR codes work with UPI. You not often use QR codes obtain cost, you solely use them Make cost. And if somebody, whether or not it is WhatsApp, SMS or electronic mail, is asking you to scan a QR code by any means in order that they’ll pay you, it is best to disregard them.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
