Online Jobs fraud in Pakistan – Beware !!!

People are desperately searching for jobs online on various platforms. The unemployment ratio has increased since inflation hit Pakistan, while scammers are taking advantage of these people.

NOTE: Never share your personal information, email ID, or mobile contact number; and for Allah’s sake, first discuss with other people on social media about such job offerings. Nobody can steal your bread if it is for you! 

Recently, I have been noticing scammers are active on Facebook and Olx, and people are sharing personal information and email addresses without investigating anything about that scammer’s fake ID. I know for a fact that our youth are unemployed and they are seeking a job almost everywhere, but this post is specifically pointing out how it works and why you shouldn’t.

Original Content:  I am just sharing this article to make people aware of this growing scam in Pakistan. I have seen too many people who made handsome income from this scam, but after 3–6 months, every company ran away by looting the money of the poor masses. I just requested that all my friends keep away from such useless and unproductive activities.

Ever heard of online jobs, CAPTHA jobs, ad-clicking jobs, ad posting jobs, or similar sort of other jobs that require initial registration worth thousands of rupees? If not, then you are probably not aware of one of the biggest ongoing scams in the country.

But those who have heard about such jobs and are planning to get registration (which usually costs anywhere from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 100,000 or more), please don’t waste your money, as it’s a fraud, and you will only end up wasting your hard-earned money.

Keep reading to learn the details of how fraudsters track people.

How does it work?

A company—usually a team of 2-3 people—with an office and some official documents, such as NTN, etc., advertises to the local community that anyone with very basic computer knowledge can get ad-clicking jobs (also called home-based online jobs) with a monthly salary of Rs. 10,000, Rs. 20,000, up to Rs. 100,000.

You will see a lot of pamphlets claiming that anyone with very basic computer knowledge can get ad-clicking jobs (also called home-based online jobs) with a monthly salary of Rs. 10,000, Rs. 20,000, or up to Rs. 50,000, but the salary is dependent on the initial registration fee.

A higher upfront fee will mean a higher monthly salary. The monthly salary is usually set at around 50% of your upfront registration fee.

These fraudsters even advertise in newspapers. Have a look at the following ad:

When you call them, you will learn about the registration fee, which you can pay and get started with a monthly salary.

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Here are the usual registration fee structures and corresponding monthly salaries for such online jobs and ad-clicking jobs:

• Registration Fee: Rs. 5,000 = Monthly Salary: Rs. 2,500
• Registration Fee: Rs. 10,000 = Monthly Salary: Rs. 5,000
• Registration Fee: Rs. 15,00 = Monthly Salary: Rs. 7,500
• Registration Fee: Rs. 25,000 = Monthly Salary: Rs. 12,5000
• Registration Fee: Rs. 40,000 = Monthly Salary: Rs. 20,000
• Registration Fee: Rs. 50,000 = Monthly Salary: Rs. 25,000
• Registration Fee: Rs. 100,000 = Monthly Salary: Rs. 50,000

Not to mention, the registration fee or the corresponding monthly salary for online jobs can vary from case to case.

After paying the registration fee, the company will give you an account on a website that will allow you to log in and start your daily work. This work usually includes clicking on ads, entering CAPTCHAs, and so on. To cut a long story short, users are asked to do dummy stuff that won’t mean much.

At the end of the month, you will get your promised salary, which will cover half of your initial investment, and you can carry on with your job into the second month.

During this period, especially after getting your first salary, you are going to tell all of your friends and family about this job, which will include at least 4-5 unemployed individuals who would want to do such an easy job while being at home.

Not only this, you may also think that getting another registration might double your incoming, and you may end up buying another account for yourself, probably with a higher registration.

Soon, your FnF will also get themselves registered (by paying the registration fee, obviously), and this chain will start until the company has hundreds of registrations coming every month.

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As per estimates, here’s the supposed cash flow situation of the company you are working with:

• First Month: 10 Registrations (with Rs. 10,000 for each registration and Rs. 5,000 monthly salary)
  • Cash in hand: Rs. 100,000
  • Monthly Salaries: Rs. 50,000 (or around)
  • Cash carried forward: Rs. 50,000
• Second Month: 20 registrations (with Rs. 10,000 for each registration)
  • Cash in Hand: Rs. 50,000 (carried forward from the previous month) + Rs. 200,000 from the current month’s registrations
  • Monthly Salaries: 150,000 (30 persons)
  • Cash carried forward: Rs. 250,000-Rs. 150,000: Rs. 100,000
• Third Month: 50 registrations (with Rs. 10,000 for each registration)
  • Cash in Hand: Rs. 100,000 (carried forward from the previous month) + Rs. 500,000 from the current month’s registrations
  • Monthly Salaries: Rs. 400,000 (80 persons)
  • Cash carried forward: 600,000-400,000 = Rs. 200,000
• This goes on and on.

In this example, we assumed that the registration fee is Rs. 10,000 and the monthly salary is Rs. 5,000. But in reality, the registration fee is set at around Rs. 25,000, and the salary is set at around Rs. 12,500.

As you can see, the essential part for any company to keep this business running is getting new registrations. That’s how they will pay the salaries.

As you can see, the essential part for any company to keep this business running is getting new registrations. That’s how they will pay the salaries. But considering the unemployment rate in our country and a good monthly salary for almost everyone (against a small upfront fee that can be recovered in just two months), who wouldn’t go and get the registration?

Things go amazing for everyone until one day, (usually on payday after 8–12 months), everybody is stunned as this internet job company is no longer there, the office is vacated, and there’s no sign of the company, which fled away without letting anyone know.

One day, after several months, you will be greeted with an empty office and ultimately know that the company ran away with millions of rupees in their accounts.

By this time, the fraudster company that you had registered with had at least a few million rupees in their account, and they would never return it. This running away is the main ROI for fraudsters, and that’s how they make money.

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Some (old customers) might have recovered their registration fee, but the majority would have lost the money that had been paid as a registration fee.

Things to note

• Companies offering online jobs, ad-clicking jobs, or other internet jobs are usually strangers; however, they employ local resources as the front end of the company.
• Since such companies have to run away one day, a resident wouldn’t do such a job. If you see a friend operating such a company, then ask for the real owner, who would indeed be a stranger to you (and your local friend).
• Whatever job you do, you will make no money for the company. Browsing web pages or entering CAPTCHAs doesn’t make money. Even if your online job provider tells you so, it’s a lie.
• No job in the world requires an initial registration fee. Anyone asking for a registration fee is indeed working on the above-mentioned model and must be avoided.

Not to mention, this fraudulent business is flourishing throughout the country, and every small or big town in the country has at least a few such fraud companies working on the same model to mint people’s pockets. We urge law enforcement agencies to give due attention to this matter.

So here’s the idea: Never register with any company that asks for an up-front registration fee for offering you online jobs. They are simply fake. If you know someone doing this, tell him or her the same. Spread the word and let everyone know.

The original content was Published on OLY.com.pk later it was removed.

The purpose of sharing is to make visitors aware of online scams and job fraud in Pakistan, which are happening 24/7. Please share this with your friends and family, and stay away from thugs and such stupid jobs offered online.

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