As I am writing this article, many are continuously becoming victims of this new scam of writing fake Google Maps reviews and earning money in return.
How does this start?
You will receive a WhatsApp message from an unknown number and certainly they know your name. I was contacted by a number which showed Canada Location and being experience with facing scammer, I knew I was going to be scammed. Yet, I thought let's see what they have to offer.
Initially I denied their request and directly asked, "You guys want me to write fake reviews?" but the lady smartly answered that, "No, just write like you want to visit that place"
I was Okay with that and agreed to do what they said. The first task was a demo one and the payout will be 150Rs.
By this time, I did few Google search about this scam and confirmed my doubt. Many people have already fallen for this scam and lost thousands of money.
What's next?
Once you have completed this "Demo" task, they will ask you to message a User in Telegram whom they call "Receptionist".
Then they will offer you to join their "Assignment Group" and earn more as you complete their daily assignments from 150Rs to 38880Rs.
What happens after you join the "Assignment Group"?
They will start giving you assignment i.e. locations to give review on Google Maps. I really doubt if those places ask these people to give fake review or this is just a small part in the bigger picture of their scam.
Being already considering myself a Spy trying to understand their operation, I joined their Telegram channel and the admins were screaming that they are fake individuals. They had very generic profile picture with weird names.
They will send you long paragraphs about their process and what you have to do.
Once you start doing this, they will pay you and try to gain your trust. One thing I noticed is that the person who paid me 150Rs, is also the same person sending screenshot of the amount he has received after completing the tasks.
What is the final play over here?
As soon as this above message was dropped, people started sending money and forwarded their payment screenshot in this chat. There were around 150 people in this telegram channel and I assume most of them are fake ones. These fake accounts send screenshot with accurate date, time and amount with thanks message confirming that they have received the said amount. This is sufficient to lure an innocent person to perceive that they are authentic.
You keep send them money as a prepayment for the task and they pay you back once or twice. The next time, you pay bigger amount and they won't pay it back. That's how this thing works!
How to stay safe from these scam?
The sooner you realize that there is no such thing as "Get Rich Quick" the better it is for you. People often fall in these scam as they want more money in short span of time. I am not a guru myself, even I have fallen in few scams myself.
The moment when I am writing this article, this Telegram Channel has already disabled it's audience from sending messages in that group and the feature hides the contact information of the members present of this Channel.
The motivation behind writing this blog in my website is to highlight this brand new scam in the market, I hope it reached the intended audience and spread the awareness.
Hi
Hello Farhan