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An Australian woman has lost her entire savings to an elaborate job scam after being contacted on WhatsApp by a man who claimed to work for a large company. The woman’s job was to complete “missions” by boosting merchandise sales and garnering positive customer reviews to receive commissions. Still, the scammer drained her bank account by convincing her to invest her money.
A Melbourne woman has warned others after falling victim to an elaborate job scam that left her broke. Ayla, who didn’t want to share her surname, lost her entire savings after accepting a job offer from a man named “Charles,” who claimed to be from a big company interested in hiring her.
The communication between the two happened entirely on WhatsApp, and Ayla never spoke to Charles on the phone or saw his face on video chat. Charles offered Ayla a commission-based job where she would help boost merchandise sales and earn a commission for the sales.
“They contacted me on the messaging platform WhatsApp, which I guess should have been my first red flag,” she recalled.
The victim would receive commissions based on how many shoppers clicked and purchased the products that she had been working to help boost.
In the first few days, Ayla made about $100 and was added to a group chat with about 35 other people who claimed they were other employees. Ayla saw people earning thousands of dollars and was told that to win those commissions; she would need to invest some of her own money.
She transferred funds to a cryptocurrency account and was told the company would boost her profile so she could complete more missions and get big paybacks.
Despite investing thousands, Ayla has not seen any of the promised large commission payments. She was instructed to keep investing more until she had no money left in her bank account.
When she confronted Charles, he told her he could do nothing, and Ayla realised she had been scammed. She reported the incident to the police and the Australian Cyber Security Centre. On further investigation, a reverse image search of the man’s profile picture shows him standing in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Ayla now hopes to raise awareness of job scams and help others not fall victim to similar scams. She shared her story hoping that others would avoid making the same mistake. She urges people to be cautious while looking for jobs online and advises people to research companies before accepting job offers. Ayla learned a valuable lesson and has since started a new and legitimate job, earning a steady income.
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