New scam alertScammers targeting employees by posing as their boss

By Abhik SenguptaIt appears that scammers have found a new way to steal your money. An employee at an Indian e-commerce company, Meesho, claims that he received a message from the CEO, which typically would get his undivided attention. However, after a close inspection, the employee, Shikhar Saxena, noticed something fishy about the message.

In a post on Twitter, Saxena points out that he received a message from the scammer with a display picture of his boss, Vidit Aatrey. The message began with a customary “hello,” but in the follow-up, the scammer wrote,” I am currently on a conference call with a client and I need to provide this client with some gift. Can you confirm if you can make this purchase from Paytm? I will reimburse you.”

Fortunately, Saxena did not fall for the scam and said this appears to be the “latest scam in the startup world – message from the CEO.” In the same tweet, several others working at different companies suggest that they have received a similar message.

A screenshot by a user (@ankitgwrites) points out a similar scam. The WhatsApp message reads, “My name is Anitha from HR CareerBuilder Ltd India. Our company is hiring some people for a part-time job. You can do this in your free time and it takes 10 to 15 minutes in a day. You will get 800 to 1,500 daily.”

The user suggests that instead of directly scamming users with links, scammers are now being more conversational on WhatsApp. The follow-up messages typically end with users receiving fraudulent requests to send money.

The message that the Meesho employee received points out that although scammers are posing to be different people, some elements remain unchanged. For instance, WhatsApp and Paytm are scammers’ favourite communication channels.

Last week, a report pointed out that a woman fell prey to a work-from-home scam and lost over Rs 8 lakh. The police claim that the complaint from Saritha S, who resides in Gurugram, had received a WhatsApp message offering an opportunity to earn money from home. The message suggested that she could earn Rs 50 per subscription to a YouTube channel.

Saritha subscribed to two channels and received a call from the receptionist, Laila. Lalia allegedly told Saritha that she would earn profit by completing tasks assigned to her. However, Saritha did not earn any profit from the tasks and was cheated of Rs 8.20 lakh.