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The rise of remote work has opened up new possibilities. However, there has been a spike number of work-from-home scams in India.
As conventional jobs for women sometimes don’t work, working women in India seek work from home options. The rise of remote work has opened up new possibilities. However, there has been a spike number of work-from-home scams in India.
With many women opting out of the traditional workplace and looking for alternative work options, infinite work-from-home scams have sprung up over the past few years which have conned working women in India out of time, effort and even money. According to the cyber crimes cell, at any given point there are around 300 work-from-home scams making the rounds of the internet, most of them targeting working women in India who want to work from home or retired people.
The rise of remote work has opened up new possibilities, especially for those aged 19-25. However, it has also brought challenges as job seekers struggle to differentiate between legitimate opportunities and deceptive schemes.
Common remote work options, such as online calls and data entry, seem straightforward, but they are also prime targets for fraudsters. These scammers trap unsuspecting individuals and vanish with their hard-earned money.
The scam often begins with scammers pretending to be human resource representatives from reputable companies. They lure victims by asking them to engage with social media accounts, YouTube videos, and even sending money to build trust.
Once the victims believe they are part of a genuine business, the scammers start making daily payments to their accounts. However, the scheme takes a dark turn when the scammers add victims to a Telegram group. In this group, they fabricate intricate crypto trading platforms, urging victims to send money and complete tasks to multiply their investments.
To enhance the deception, scammers create fake virtual wallets, making victims believe their money is safe. Unfortunately, many individuals get entangled in this web, sending money daily and, in some cases, losing their entire life savings. Some victims even resort to borrowing money from friends, only to lose it all in the scam. It’s a heartbreaking situation that underscores the need for vigilance and awareness among those seeking remote work opportunities.
How do you distinguish between legitimate work-from-home jobs and work-from-home scams? Here are five work-from-home scams you should avoid, and some tips to launch your work-from-home career.
The most recent example of online survey scams is the Speak Asia scam. A friend with a three-month-old had enrolled in the Speak Asia scheme despite niggling doubts, simply because she saw others in her family join. She says, “It did seem too good. Pay Rs 11,000 up front and get paid Rs 1000 for two short online surveys per week. And the ads were all over, which convinced me that maybe all was well with the company.”
When the Speak Asia scam burst, she was one of the casualties. At last count, over 19 lakh panellists of Speak Asia had not received the promised income per week since 13th May and the company owes them approximately Rs.2,280 crore.
Many Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) schemes depend on members roping in other members and getting paid commissions for the sales of those members too. While not all MLM companies are frauds, many have overpriced products that are very difficult to sell and pressurize members to keep paying for new products, training schemes or promotional material. One such notable MLM fraud was the JapanLife scheme wherein one bought a magnetic mattress for an amount close to Rs 1 lakh and roped in other buyers in a MLM scheme that eventually fizzled out.
While some such jobs for women may be an ‘opportunity’, first evaluate:
Hint: The answers to the first two questions above should be Yes, and to the third one No!
While many data entry and transcription companies may be above board, others are dubious. Some companies have impressive websites and hold seminars in five star hotels but demand a down payment/fee for people to register with them and promise a fixed income per month which sounds tempting. Once you register, these firms might even pay you for a month or two before disappearing completely.
According to Reema Jagtiani, Homemaker, “I signed up for a transcription firm online. The work seemed easy and I did get a couple of calls. They asked for my bank account details to remit the payments and I worked for a couple of months, after which the website just shut down. The emails went unanswered. And of course, I never saw my money.”
Telemarketing opportunities for working women in India
Unless the opportunity is from a reputed firm, be wary. Most firms get a database of information and contacts built up through a telemarketing network, conduct investment seminars for timeshare resorts etc, and then disappear into thin air.
Content writing or freelancing for media, while not strictly a scam, is another work from home job with a dodgy reputation for payments. Sunayana Roy, Freelance Writer, confides, “I wrote a school textbook for a well-known publisher and never got paid. They simply never got back to me after I sent in the first draft. Since then I have learnt never to send in a first draft in its entirety. I had a contract to write a few more in the series which never materialised; nor did I get paid for the weeks of work I put in.”
Sub-contracting can also be a reason for working women in India getting scammed. Sunayana mentions an incident where content writing work was outsourced to her by a relative, on behalf of a publishing firm – she ended up unpaid and not being directly contracted, could not recover her dues from the publishers too.
Priyanka Chaturvedi, Director, MPower Consultants, says, “Before getting into any of these stay at home and get paid schemes, women should first verify the authenticity of the claim the company is making, which is not very tough if you just check with others, or do a bit of research on the net before being taken in by their claims. Whenever a big amount of returns is spoken of, it should always, always be looked at with scepticism before jumping at the said offer.”
To start with, trust your instincts. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
And finally, never, ever respond to unsolicited spam mail offering you a work-from-home opportunity. Some might add, that being a homemaker is in itself a work-from-home scam, but do take that with a pinch of salt!
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Image source for 5 most common work-from-home scams in India CanvaPro
Kiran Manral is an Indian author, columnist and mentor. She has published books across genres in both fiction and non-fiction. She lives in Mumbai. read more...
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