Beware of Online Job Offers – The Real Ones Don’t Come So Easy!

Online Fraud

Online Fraud

This is a world of information and technology. Mobile phones, internet, the works, to keep one connected. And yes, there is also the provision of sitting home and making a living through online jobs. Well along with this provision there has been a spate of frauds connected to online jobs. In fact, online job scams rank very high on the list of internet frauds.

I am sure each one of us has at some point browsed through some site offering online jobs. In all these sites, the name Krishna Karpal, a Mumbai based housewife, is featured, advertising that she is earning Rs 4,40,000 per month by just applying for a work-from-home kit and by filling short forms online. Research has shown that no such person exists in any corner of the world. Most probably, the photograph depicting Krishna Karpal belongs to someone who does not even know about this scam.

The funny part is that Krishna Karpal has an equivalent in all countries with different names, a few of them are: Gabriela Valdez from Latin America, Melissa Johnson from Canada, Doris Halkias from Nicosia, Sanaa Al-Kazaz from Amman.

It can be seen from the photographs of the cheques shown as issued to these imaginary individuals that they all have the same amount, and even the cheque number is the same in each case.

It is unfortunate but true that many among the public fall prey to such scams and end up paying for something which is not going to give them any returns.

Why do people fall for such scams

The online job scammers are very smart. They are taking advantage of the psychological weakness of the individuals and target people belonging to the following groups:

  1. Housewives with household responsibilities, who are unable to step out to work
  2. Physically challenged and elderly people who are unable to go out to work
  3. People with minimal educational qualifications

People, especially belonging to these categories, are gullible and fall prey to false promises made by the scammers, because at the end of the road they are seeing the dream, of making money, coming true. Also, it can be seen that many of these scammers advertise on well-known sites and thus people fail to realise that they are being cheated.

The time to get suspicious

There are some indications and signs as to the possibility of an online job offer being a scam. Some of them are:

  1. Asking to make an initial payment: The first obvious reason to get suspicious is, when the online job offer asks an individual to make a payment, no matter however small, for a starter kit. One must remember that the amount may be small for one individual, but when taken from a large group, the scammers make a huge amount.
  2. Deceptive names:  The scammers try and include a word in the name which may indicate that they are, in fact, part of the Government or some prestigious MNC. No matter what the name is, one needs to get it checked thoroughly.
  3. Claiming to have seen your CV: It is also an extremely suspicious case when someone contacts you with a job offer saying they found your CV online.
  4. Job offer comes suddenly: No details regarding educational qualifications or experience are asked and the job is offered right away.
  5. The pay offered is too good to be true. One must realise that then in all probabilities it is not true.

Before accepting any online job offer, one must do a complete research. Don’t let the company to hurry up any process. Before giving any personal information like bank A/c number, credit card number, Pan card number etc. one must establish beyond any doubt the genuineness of the company. At the end of the day, one must also rely on one’s intuition and decide if the online job offered is authentic or not.

Conclusion

People, in their naivety, and in their endeavour to earn in the easiest possible way, are falling prey to online job scammers. One must realise that in life there is no easy way out for anything, especially money.  In a country where professionals are finding it difficult to land lucrative jobs and make a comfortable living, one must immediately become suspicious of any such job offer which promises the impossible.

When such frauds come to one’s notice, one must inform the cyber crime cell online. Such an action may or may not help the individual concerned, but at least many more will be saved from falling prey to the scam.

The CCI says, “Internet with its numerous advantages always remains in news all across the globe for different reasons. If there are good services and features to make the life easier and secure then there are also loopholes that work against its benefits to destroy the balance and create trouble. The virtual world is no exception to it, everyday developers and security professionals are coming forward with great features offering better security, but on the other side of it, there are community of scammers and hackers who are constantly trying to transgress the security wall and access the valuable information that is supposed to remain protected and secured.”

No, it is not all dark and dreary. There are many genuine online jobs available and one just needs to patiently find the right one. It is time to forge ahead, for a better, fraud-free morrow. Let’s make the change by being more aware and less gullible.

It’s time for a better tomorrow.
 

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