The first three payments arrived. The fourth needed a deposit.
A student earned 1,200 rupees for liking videos, then was asked to deposit to unlock a bigger task set.
- Recovered
- Nil
- Reported by
- Anonymous Patna, Bihar
How it happened
The message arrived on WhatsApp from an international number offering part-time work: like YouTube videos, send a screenshot, get paid per task. He was added to a Telegram group of about 200 people where payouts were posted all day.
The first three payouts were real — ₹150, ₹350, then ₹700 in his account within minutes. That was the point of them. After the third, he was moved to a 'prepaid task' track where a deposit unlocked a higher-paying set.
He deposited ₹5,000 and saw ₹6,800 credited to a wallet inside their app. Withdrawal failed. A support agent explained he had to complete the full set to withdraw, and each set cost more than the last. He stopped at ₹38,500. The group was deleted the next day.
Step by step
Yes
This account was submitted by a reader and reviewed by our moderation team. Names, numbers and identifying details have been removed. It is published for awareness and is not a legal record.
What this teaches
- Real employers pay you. They never ask you to deposit money to start earning.
- The small early payouts are the investment the fraudster makes in you.
- A balance shown inside someone else's app is a number on a screen, not money.
Stories from people
- Do not share bank details, OTPs, card numbers, Aadhaar or complaint numbers.
- Do not name or accuse individuals. Make official reports at cybercrime.gov.in.
- Comments are reviewed before publication. Never pay anyone who offers to recover your money.