I got scammed and it hurt more than a breakup.
<p>I got scammed and lost PHP 1.1 million (~AUD 30,000) in the blink of an eye. It was a total heartbreak as a mediocre employee whose income depended only on my 9 to 5 job.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:560/1*PWAfjpKweiK8p176dEN3aQ.jpeg" style="height:500px; width:700px" /></p>
<p>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@travelpen?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Lindsey LaMont</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/UwnH5jSrdr4?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Unsplash</a></p>
<p><strong>The modus.</strong></p>
<p>The story started when someone who claimed to be working for <em>“Upwork”</em> contacted me via WhatsApp.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Screencapture by Author</p>
<p>Working for a considerable amount of years now, this looked believable — encountering invites through these messengers by recruiters.</p>
<p>She gave me <em>tasks </em>to rate Google Maps businesses. I tried. A couple of times I did what she asked and unexpectedly, she was crediting me for it. She was paying me using an e-wallet (GCash) with PHP 50.00 (~AUD 1.40).</p>
<p>She referred me to the so-called <em>“Receptionist”, “Manager” </em>and the <em>“Merchant”</em>. At this time, we were chatting over Telegram. The same tasks continued. The receptionist invited me to join a group chat where constant messages from pretentious participants of the <em>company </em>were being sent. It was getting more convincing.</p>
<p>The next day, tasks progressed and, I was still earning up to PHP 700.00 (~AUD 19.40). Of course, I was lured by it.</p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/illumination/i-got-scammed-and-it-hurt-more-than-a-breakup-13afe6fc12f1">Read More</a></p>