With the advancement in technology and internet services, it has turned out to be a boon to those seeking work-from-home opportunities while the same set of people are falling prey to the distressing incidents by online scammers. These escalating numbers in online scams have left people in a helpless situation where they not only lose their hard-earned money but also become victims with no real jobs in hand and continue to stand unemployed. There has been a multitude of cases where hundreds of job seekers are tricked into losing nearly 2.5 crores to scammers.

Fake job recruiters are seen posing as a genuine company that would help the vulnerable people who are suffering in the unemployment crisis. The scammers succeed to fool around innocent people by using various techniques like phishing emails, acting as the HR of the company, and faking documents, and websites. The huge lack of awareness among people is a prime reason for failure to find genuine recruiters as a result end up paying the price for their innocence.

Various examples of work-from-home and online scams that have come to the notice of the authorities are- “start your own online business scam”, “fraudulent recruiters who promise job positions scam”, and “virtual personal assistant jobs scam” among many others.

Tricks and Methods that make people fall prey to Scammers

1. Tricks and Tactics

These scammers are known to have a sharp understanding of the tricks and tactics to use while implementing their evil intentions on the vulnerable population. The people in need of a job are deeply vulnerable psychologically. These scammers take advantage and psychologically manipulate by emotionally exploiting their vulnerabilities.

Followed by this, they try to build trust and extract details of the individual. In order to succeed, they tend to create a fake profile socially and impersonate to bluff around the victims. Tactics like urgent action recommendations to insist the victims act quickly do not allow sufficient time for a person to research.

Social Engineering on the Rise: One of the most successful and highly used tactics by scammers is social engineering. The users of the internet must avoid clicking on any suspicious URLs. We are already aware that the internet is flooded with advertisements having attractive salaries and incentives promising unrealistic work cultures. Be aware, there are chances of them being con artists or scammers!

Studies reveal that regular awareness programs on cyber security and online scams can effectively avoid a large number of fraudulent initiatives. 

2. Advanced techniques used

The quick-witted trait of scammers has started to use a number of advanced techniques. It has become quite a convenient task for anyone to conceal their true identity online by creating fake identities and profiles to spoof around.

The most common technique that scammers have been using lately is ”phishing”. The targets are flooded with a variety of deceptive emails and as a result, the unaware and innocent ones fall prey to the false promises and fake websites that these scammers have created. There are instances of impersonation of trusted brands by scammers.

A set of pyramid schemes are presented forward by the scammers to attract targets by falsely promising them a pyramidal success in the form of a high salary and less work, quick promotions, and eventually financial freedom. Various advancements have started to come to the notice of the agencies that these online scammers make good use of artificial intelligence and other technologies.

3. Finding targets

Data breaches and leaks of information are the two very common methods used by scammers. Once they get access to a person’s personal information, they are all set to exploit the data and identify their target prey. These scammers traditionally invest time and finances in casting a wide web around social media and the internet. Various platforms which provide an opportunity to work remotely provide the scammers’ access to specific targets like the ones seeking jobs. Examples like naukri.com and LinkedIn.

The ill-witted scammers use their tactics to convince victims by potentially setting up fake advertisements which appear to be genuine. In many cases, innocent job seekers get scammed into paid courses and paid training courses which as a result turn out to be a scam.

How do not be a scammers target?

Technology has not only been a boon but also an opening door for a variety of negatives. In order to save oneself from falling prey to online scams, one must have a vigilant mindset and awareness about how to protect from being a victim:

• It is essential to be selective in sharing one’s personal information.
• Various online platforms that ask for sensitive information must be avoided.
• Regular users of online platforms must have strong passwords for various accounts to prevent scammers from easily accessing their personal information.
• It is important for people to develop habits like regular monitoring of financial accounts keeping themselves well-read about the ongoing scams in the market.
• Develop an understanding of the signs of online scammers and know the difference between genuine and fake recruiters.

Government’s response to such scammers

The high number of such scams indicates an alarming situation for the citizens of a country. It is on the shoulders of the government to get hold of search fraudulent tactics and agencies in function. There are certain laws like Section 66 C, which can be used if one’s password or Unique Identification feature is used by scammers. Similarly, Section 43A makes a company liable in cases of privacy breach. In spite of the laws, the high number of scams is a clear indication that there is an even stronger need for the government to act quickly and save its citizens from getting scammed.

The government’s ignorance of the problem has given a boost to such agencies. The government’s lack of attentiveness has possibly affected the policy formulation in this regard.

The already existing laws are outdated and are certainly incompetent to provide justice to the victims who are suffering from the much-advanced system of scams. The ever-changing tricks of these scammers and the outdated laws leave very little scope for the victims to take any action. The government must shift its traditional strategies of policy formation and legal enforcement for the ever-evolving world of technology which these scammers are well versed with.

The biggest question that arises is how these scammers successfully open bank accounts in trusted banks and get registered as genuine companies. The big loophole lies in the system of these banks which fail to identify fraudulent accounts even after a significant number of odd activities. Instead of freezing such accounts, these accounts continue to function and as a result the victims who trust the banks, fall prey. 

Reports reveal that the most susceptible group to these scams lies in the age bar of 24 years to 37 years. A large number of cybercrimes and cyberbullying instances are raising concerns. Reports say that around 30,000 websites are prone to get hacked on a daily basis. We cannot deny the fact that as long as the internet grows, the threats to such scams would grow.

With 3.6 million WhatsApp accounts getting banned in India in the name of committing fraud, is scary enough to realize the extent of such fraudulent active accounts that still exist. The government needs to implement a ‘functional data protection law’ which guarantees the protection of the citizens’ data. Whether it is private companies or the government, citizens must be aware and well-read about the ways their data can be misused or breached. The law must be strong enough to support the victims in holding the fraud accountable.