New Delhi, Jan 21 (IANS) As the trend of remote work gains momentum providing individuals with unprecedented opportunities to work from the comfort of their homes, it has also become a breeding ground for fraudulent schemes. Jobseekers are increasingly facing challenges in distinguishing legitimate remote job opportunities from dubious scams that exploit their aspirations for financial gain.

One of the most prevalent forms of remote work scams involves promises of lucrative data entry jobs and online calls. While these opportunities seem straightforward, they have become prime targets for fraudsters who lure unsuspecting victims into their traps, leaving them with financial losses and shattered expectations.

Common WFH Scams

Data Entry Scam: Victims are enticed with the prospect of high-paying data entry jobs. However, upon payment of registration fees or investment in software, they discover that either the promised jobs do not exist, or the materials provided are substandard.

Online Survey Scams: People are persuaded to participate in surveys that promise substantial earnings. Upon completing the surveys, victims either receive no payment or are asked to pay a fee to claim their earnings.

Freelance Job Scam: Scammers posing as clients or recruiters offer freelance job opportunities requiring specific skills such as writing, graphic design, or programming. Victims either go unpaid for their work or receive fake cheques, unknowingly depositing them into their bank accounts and later facing liability when the cheques bounce.

Fake Job Offers: Fraudsters post fraudulent job listings on job portals or social media platforms, targeting people seeking work from home opportunities. They request personal information, payment for processing fees, or training, disappearing once they receive money or sensitive data.

With the arrest of four men, the Delhi Police recently claimed to have busted a gang of cyber crooks for cheating over 500 people on the pretext of ‘online work’ on a huge margin across the country.

The accused were identified as Sanjay Dabas (26), a resident of Sultanpur Dabas (Delhi), Farhan Ansari (30), a resident of Jaipur, Rajasthan, Pankaj Wadhwa (38), a resident of Rohini (Delhi) and Monu alias Manoj Kumar Sharma (42), a resident of Vasant Kunj (Delhi).

According to police, a woman in her complaint reported that she was searching for a job online when she received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number.

“The message has an offer of paying Rs 50 per like for the link of social media accounts sent to her through WhatsApp. She opened the various links sent by the caller and liked them. She sent the screen shot to the sender named Xarina,’’ said a senior police official.

Xarina asked her to open a telegram link to receive the credited amount.

“She joined the Telegram channel and Rs 150 was credited in her bank account. Xarina then instructed her to join another Telegram channel and like some YouTube videos, which she completed and received Rs 200 in return,” said the official.

Later, Xarina convinced her to invest in crypto currency with the promise of significant profits. The woman initially invested Rs 1,000, and Xarina lured her with the prospect of even more profit. However, the woman ended up losing around Rs 22 lakh in a single day and has requested legal action against Xarina for her actions.

Police said the investigation done so far indicated that Chinese cyber criminals have developed a module to cheat people looking for online work from home jobs or part time jobs as Chinese loan fraud is now declining due to action by agencies and awareness among people.

During investigation it was revealed that the telegram ID used by the scammers was being operated from Beijing, China and the WhatsApp number used to defraud the victim by convincing her to invest into a fake amazon site was also found being operated from outside India.

The police then wrote an Email to NPCI and Kotak Mahindra bank seeking beneficiary details of the suspected transactions and it was revealed that a shell firm account had been used to accumulate money from victims.

"During the examination of details received from the bank it was found that a total of Rs 5.17 crore were credited in a single day. In further money trail it was revealed that the whole amount was siphoned further through seven different firms. And, siphoning of money was done to foreign accounts through crypto currency," the official added.

This was not only one case in which online platforms including WhatApp or Telegram were used by cyber crooks to dupe people on the pretext of earning money while sitting at home.

Last year, Delhi Police had also unearthed an international gang of cyber crooks based in China, Dubai and the mastermind sitting in Georgia who have defrauded 11,000 people on the pretext of providing online work from home jobs in Amazon.

The gang duped crores of rupees on the pretext of providing online jobs. Police have so far arrested three people in separate raids conducted at Delhi, Gurugram and Fatehabad in Haryana in this connection.

(Shekhar Singh can be reached at shekhar.s@ians.in)