I usually don’t pick up or entertain WhatsApp calls or messages if they come from an unknown number. My profile on the job platform shows open to work, so I receive some job notifications through WhatsApp or phone.
On 7 Feb, I received a message on my phone that Rachana Devan from a company named Page Traffic wanted to hire me for freelance work. I showed my interest and asked for details. She told me that I have to write reviews and give five stars to some restaurants; for this, I will get 5000-10,000 rs daily.
My first thought was, ‘Who pays 5000 to 10,000 per day for such work? ‘.
I felt alarmed and asked her for the company’s profile and her LinkedIn profile, which she didn’t have. She wondered why I would need it. I told her to run a background check. She really got upset and started telling me that she was running thousands of interviews online and would connect with me afterwards.
Later, I called the company and informed their HR about the fraud.
I shared the incident with Samvada team and they too received similar messages.
I am curious if the company has taken any action, but this act gave me different satisfaction.
In these difficult times, when people are losing jobs, it has become easy for fraudsters to commit such fraud.
Be aware. Report incidents. Be safe. Run a background check. Better to be safe than sorry.
