The freelancer trap
Most often, content writers are the ones who fall victim to fraud. Although they work hard and deliver the content on time, they end up not receiving any payment. In this case, it was the client who was scammed.
Story of a client getting defrauded
The following is the story of a person who hired a writer, Sutashree Saha, who runs a company named Academic Shine. He paid them in advance for the assignment. Later, when he asked for an update on the assignment, they informed him that the assignment would not be completed and he could expect a refund within one or two days. He gave her his Google Pay number, so she could pay.
After 3 days, he texted her for his refund, but she didn't reply. Despite another day's passing, no refund had been made. The person understood that she had no plans to refund the amount, so he called her to confirm this. As a result, she blocked him.
The following tips will help you protect your money against fraud.
1. Check the company history and background.
2. Samples of the work should be submitted and payment questions must be asked.
3. When using the digital payments app, you will probably receive a spam warning. Do not ignore it. The warning would appear if you transact with someone who had been reported earlier.
4. Using digital escrow platforms as a payment method is preferred. When you pay through an Escrow payment system over the internet, you are not sharing your information with strangers. One such platform for escrow is Vouch.
What is digital escrow?
Digital Escrow is the use of a third party account, during a transaction, which holds the money deposited by the buyer until the seller fulfills the terms of the agreement. The transacting parties are supervised by the escrow company.
How does Digital Escrow save you from online frauds in India?
Vouch’s Digital Escrow service is transparent for buyers and sellers to build trust and secure a clean transfer of product and payment. Buyers can feel assured that they will be fairly compensated promptly, and buyers will feel confident that their order will be delivered as expected and on schedule. If you ever come across a fraudster asking for OTP, asking you to scan a QR code, or asking you to click on phishing links, you can simply say no and ask him/her to proceed with the transaction through Vouch.
Vouch Digital Escrow uses a non-interest-bearing escrow account for all transactions in India and keeps you updated and informed at every step of the transaction process till the end. Vouch’s professionals are always available to assist you with all queries that you may have during the entire transaction process. There is no scope for deceit or fraud since the payments, shipping, delivery, and execution are carried out under the honest and watchful eyes of the Vouch’s professionals. With Vouch, any business transaction becomes transparent, uncomplicated, and hassle-free.
This is Fraud Story #57. Check back here for more fraud stories and scams that you can protect yourself from.
Safety is not just about protecting your credit or debit card number. It's about having control of your money till you've received the product or service you bought online!
Note: This is a good-faith initiative to educate the world about avoiding frauds like these. Do you have a fraud you would like to report? Please write to us at letstalk@iamvouched.com
