All stories
Task scam Reviewed 3 August 2026

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.

Amount lost
₹38,500
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

Unsolicited WhatsApp job offer from an international number.
Added to a Telegram group showing constant payout screenshots.
Three small real payments built trust.
Moved to 'prepaid tasks' requiring a deposit to unlock earnings.
Balance shown in their app; every withdrawal blocked by a new condition.
Was it reported?

Yes

If this just happened to you
1930

National cyber crime helpline

How to report a fraud
Related fraud type
Task and part-time job scam

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.