Being offered a job with the promise of a high income can be attractive to many people. Unfortunately, this is the scam mode that is now used by many scammers to deceive their victims.
Their target victims are people who are looking for a job after graduating. Not only that, those who want to earn extra income are also potential victims. A lot of them fell for the tricks.
To prevent becoming a victim too, you need to increase your awareness of similar offers. Also, find out the preventive measures to avoid similar fraud modes.
Signs of Freelance Job Offer Scam
Scammers will send job offers to many people. It’s an attractive offer because potential victims can earn a daily salary. Here’s what the scammers do.
1. Randomly contacting potential victims
Scammers will randomly contact other potential victims via chat applications such as WhatsApp. You can also get these messages even if you don’t register or apply for a job.
They will claim to work for a company; you can often find these companies online. They may use a number from an Indonesian provider or a foreign-coded number.
They will use slightly awkward Indonesian when sending a message using an international number. This is to convince their potential victims that they are not native Indonesians.
2. Offering easy work with attractive payment
The next step is to offer freelance/part-time jobs to potential victims. These jobs are extremely easy with no special skills required.
The tasks are also relatively easy, you only need to follow and like a social media account. The social media account has been designed to convince potential victims. The best part is that the job promises attractive rewards and can be done on the spot. This attracts may people to apply for the job.
3. Requesting entry into a group messaging app
Victims who are interested and willing to do the task will first be invited to join a group chat in the Telegram app. after joining the group, the victim will be given directions on what to do.
The group would include hundreds of accounts that may victims and syndicates of these scammers. The topics discussed in the group are quite convincing. You will find tips on how to do the job and commission payments from the assignments.
4. Eligible for attractive commissions/rewards
Once assigned, the victim only needs to complete all the work requested. Even the work can be done in a short time. For proof, the victim will be asked to take a screenshot of their work.
The rewards for the work are given as soon as the work is completed. Unfortunately, this is just a trick to keep the victim believing the scammer’s MO.
5. Asking to transfer deposit money
Scammers will also assign additional work (they call it Prepaid Tasks) with greater rewards. However, there are several conditions that the victim needs to do to get this job.
The victim is asked to transfer some ‘deposit’ to the scammer’s account. If not, then the reward will reset to the initial amount. Then the victim immediately gets the reward in their account making the victim more convinced.
Furthermore, the victim is told to transfer a larger amount of money than before, with the lure of getting a bigger reward than before. However, they did not get the promised reward, arguing that there was an additional task, and if they wanted to get the reward, they had to transfer an even larger amount.
6. Commission rewards were never transferred
At the beginning of the assignment, the reward payment went smoothly and quickly. However, this changes after a few jobs. The scammers will continue to postpone commission payments for various reasons.
The most common reason is the additional work that needs to be completed. In fact, this delayed payment comes with a request to transfer money to get another additional job. And then, because the victim failed to transfer the requested amount of money, the scammers argued that the victim had not completed the tasks, making the money that had been transferred irretrievable.
Victims who are already suspicious begin to question the payment of the commission. If this happens, the scammer will remove the victim from the group and block their number.
As the scam operates in groups, it can be difficult for victims to track down the scammers. The bank numbers used can vary with different names.
Tips to Avoid This Fraud
Apart from raising awareness, there are things that need to be done to avoid this fraud. Check out the tips to avoid freelance job offer scams below.
1. Ignore the offer
The first step you can take to avoid this scam is to ignore it. This means that you don’t need to reply any messages sent by the scammers. Especially if you are not applying for a job.
2. Ask for details
Anything that appears attractive sometimes has a catch. You should therefore ask about the details of the job, the salary, and the payment.
Not only that, but you also need to ask about the person in charge of all the work you do. This is because you don’t meet the person face to face.
3. Verify the information and the employer
You will have the opportunity to find information when you are offered the job. Fact-check everything the employer says. You can research the company he/she works for including its social media.
It also doesn’t hurt to find out the mobile number used. You can find out by utilizing applications or websites on the internet.
4. Refuse to transfer any money
A legitimate job opening will not collect money from its candidates. Instead, employers are required to pay salaries, commissions, or any remuneration to people who help them to get the job.
Once the employer starts asking for money to be transferred in advance, you can terminate the employment agreement. Report this fraudulent practice to the authorities immediately. If you have already been deceived, report it to Halo BCA at 1500888.
These are the steps you can take to avoid falling into the job offer scam that offers a daily salary. Raise your awareness to avoid similar crime modes by reading more AwasModus information from BCA. #AwasModus