“Earn at home from $5-$5000 per month”; “Earn in your free time”; “No investments, work from home”; “Just send SMS and earn...”
These are some of the ads which regularly fill our cell phones and e-mail inboxes. However, city cyber crime department officials have found that many mails and SMS sent by anonymous job providers are not genuine.
Dr Sudhakar, assistant commissioner of city cyber crime cell, told this newspaper, “So far we have not received any complaints from the public regarding cheating by these companies.
But when we suo motu took up the job to verify the authenticity of these advertisements, we were surprised that many companies provided fake addresses.” Dr Sudhakar urged victims to come forward to alert the department about online job rackets.
When this newspaper checked out various online firms, the responses were mysterious.
Introducing himself as Ramesh, a consultant in Arumbakkam said the applicant could earn Rs 8,000 per week in a multi-level marketing job. He mentioned that based on the talent of the person, the salary would go up.
“You just need to pay Rs 1,000 up front. We will give a job with a handsome salary every week,” he said.
Another job provider said the company had no offices in Chennai and the firm operated online only.
“You have to fill forms. You will be paid based on your work and we do not give any fixed salary,” said Ms Prapthi. When asked for the name of the company, she said she didn’t know.
K. Srinivasan, city president of Cyber Society of India, said, “Users have to be aware that nothing comes free.
There were even mails in the name of RBI asking customers to deposit money. Always check out the official website of reputed organisations.”