I’m not sure if this is a new scam or an old one, but someone messaged me asking to review a few restaurants. They said I’d get paid for it, so out of curiosity, I went along with it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t paid, just like I suspected. Here are some WhatsApp screenshots of the conversation I had with them.
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I don’t get why anyone would want to post fake reviews for hotels in the first place. Doesn’t that feel like dishonest work?
MissNicklaus said:
I don’t get why anyone would want to post fake reviews for hotels in the first place. Doesn’t that feel like dishonest work?
First, it seems harmless to do fake reviews, but then next thing you know, they start scamming people themselves.
It’s just another version of the task scam. Luckily, they didn’t pay you—otherwise, you’d think it was real and end up losing more money later.
TomHenry said:
It’s just another version of the task scam. Luckily, they didn’t pay you—otherwise, you’d think it was real and end up losing more money later.
Hi, AutoModerator is here to explain the task scam.
Task scams usually involve an app or website where you can ‘earn money’ by completing simple tasks. But the catch is you can only do so many tasks before you’re asked to pay a fee to upgrade your account. That’s when the scam really starts. People think they’re earning money, but they can never withdraw it. This is a variant of the ‘advance fee scam’.
If you’re caught up in one of these, the best thing to do is cut your losses. Be wary of anyone offering to help you recover your money for a fee—those are scammers too.
Thanks to redditor vignoniana for this helpful explanation.
TomHenry said:
It’s just another version of the task scam. Luckily, they didn’t pay you—otherwise, you’d think it was real and end up losing more money later.
I wouldn’t have paid them even if they had paid me first… but I probably would’ve posted more reviews for them next time.
TomHenry said:
It’s just another version of the task scam. Luckily, they didn’t pay you—otherwise, you’d think it was real and end up losing more money later.
It wouldn’t matter even if you had paid them first. They would have gotten their money back, and you’d be left in a worse financial situation.
I don’t get it. Money is hard to come by, so why do people fall for this stuff?
WhatsApp is a scam platform… can’t trust anything on there.
What a dumb scam. You should change the reviews to 1 star and make them look bad.
Jane said:
What a dumb scam. You should change the reviews to 1 star and make them look bad.
The restaurants aren’t involved in this.
Jane said:
What a dumb scam. You should change the reviews to 1 star and make them look bad.
Yeah, I’m planning to change the reviews to 1 star and also post the screenshots of the chat.
Jane said:
What a dumb scam. You should change the reviews to 1 star and make them look bad.
Don’t do it. The products were likely chosen at random, and are probably not even connected to the scammers.
Just leave it behind and move on. Lesson learned.
Jane said:
What a dumb scam. You should change the reviews to 1 star and make them look bad.
It’s better to just delete the review.
The WhatsApp scammer is probably a beginner. You should report them to WhatsApp as someone running a task scam. Don’t take any payments from them. Block them and consider the damage done with the info you gave out. Also, don’t think posting fake reviews is a real job.