-“If you deposit 10,000. For each set of rating tasks, you will earn around 1,400. 1400 x 3 sets, 4,200 per day you earn. Welcome bonus 1500…Renew Bonus 1000 so the total you can withdraw is 16700 on same day”

-“Congrats ma’am, you are now assigned a Superior Task. You will get 5x commission…”

These are among several ads and messages that offered a ‘work from home gig to rate movies’ on a website and promised good money – before it turned out to be a scam.

Hijacking the name of a US-based firm, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, a group of scamsters have allegedly been cheating hundreds of people, especially women, looking for work-from-home opportunities. Three such cases were reported in Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon over the past week.

According to the victims, they were looking for work when they came across the ads on social media. Once they expressed interest, they were added to Telegram groups.

The MO
The Indian Express accessed some of the chats on the Telegram groups and personal chats between the victims and the accused persons.

“Our main content is to help film companies to increase click-through rate, box office figures and good reviews of their films, so that more people can buy them or notice them… 30 tasks are required to be completed, and each review will earn a commission accordingly” – this was one of the standard messages sent to the victims after they saw the ads on social media and contacted the number given. They are then led to a website where they have to register and start rating movies.

One of the websites mentions: “Top 10 Highest-rated Scorsese movies Goodfellas, The Departed, The Wolf of the Wall Street… Rate Blank Panther, Thor, The Menu… Featured movies- Marvel Cinema…”

Meha Sethi (38), a Gurgaon resident, said she would click on the movie boxes on the website to give ratings and add “good reviews”.

“Initially, we did receive returns and this was when we invested Rs 10,000. I was happy and thought I could support my family. We didn’t know this was a scam. We were paid for tasks but then my money wasn’t returned. I kept waiting but was pushed to put in more money to get back the investment. I have lost more than Rs 28 lakh between December and February…,” she alleged.

One of Meha’s family members claimed: “They have made a group where multiple men and women keep praising the accused, saying they have earned lakhs. This created an illusion that everything was going fine.”

In Delhi, a 31-year-old PhD scholar was cheated of Rs 1.7 lakh in March. She said she wanted a job to support her husband and their two kids and came across the company while watching Instagram reels.

“This seemed like a good opportunity. Who knew it would turn out this horribly? Though I have lodged a complaint, I am still on the Telegram group and chatting with one of the members. She assures me she will return my money but then asks for Rs 2 lakh more. I don’t have the capacity to pay them now. I have already invested everything I had….,” said the woman.

For the PhD scholar, it was a surprise when she first invested Rs 10,000 (to complete tasks and become a member) and received Rs 14,000- Rs 15,000. “We would put in good reviews and give ratings. I did think it was a futile exercise, but the money was genuine. We would rate 90 movies a day.

However, the tasks soon stopped opening. The accused said this was happening because I must put in more money to get more tasks. They had multiple ways to get money from us. I kept investing more. I later realised the money wasn’t coming back. Nobody except my husband knows. My in-laws would scold me if they ever found out,” claimed the woman.

In Noida, a Sector 74 resident alleged she lost Rs 12 lakh in the scam. “I had received a message that I could ‘earn money while sitting at home’. I was interested and saw 25 people on the Telegram group. I thought it was genuine. They even returned my initial sum and upgraded me to a ‘superior member’. I kept giving more money… Over 40-50 transactions later, I realised I was cheated. I spoke to one of the women who assured to help me, but she was also cheating me. I finally approached police… I just want my money back,” alleged the woman.

Task cut out for cops
Police are yet to make an arrest in the cases. Priyanshu Dewan, ACP (Gurgaon Cyber Unit), told The Indian Express, “As per our understanding, the accused are targeting housewives and women seeking jobs. As a trust-building measure, the accused even return some of the amount with added returns. But then they take money on multiple pretexts and don’t return it.

When the victim starts complaining about the situation, the admins delete all the messages. We have found that the money was being received in different bank accounts across India. We have lodged 4-5 cases now and are looking into the money trail. The investigation is tough since group messages have been deleted and the accused are unnamed.”

Ravi Kumar Singh, DCP (Outernorth), said, “We have lodged an FIR and suspects have been identified. We have zeroed in on a few people. Raids are being conducted in and around Delhi. We will bust the gang soon…”