The task scam pays first — that is what makes it work. A few hundred rupees arrive for liking videos or rating hotels, trust is built in a Telegram group full of ‘earners’, and then the deposits begin.
The lifecycle
Day 1: a WhatsApp offer of ₹150 per YouTube like; three tasks, ₹450 credited — real money. Day 2: a Telegram group, a ‘mentor’, bigger tasks. Day 3: a ‘prepaid task’ — deposit ₹5,000, get ₹6,500. It pays. Day 4: deposit ₹40,000; a ‘mistake’ locks the account; deposit ₹80,000 to unlock. Nothing is ever withdrawable again.
Why people continue
Each step is small relative to the last, the early payouts create trust, the group's screenshots create social proof, and the sunk cost makes ‘one more payment’ feel rational.
How to exit
Stop the moment money is asked for. Do not pay to unlock anything. Screenshot the group, the UPI IDs paid to and the app; report at cybercrime.gov.in (financial fraud), call 1930, and tell your bank the beneficiary details so they can flag the mule accounts.
Checklist
- ☐No job requires a deposit — ever
- ☐‘Prepaid task’ = scam
- ☐Screenshots of every chat and payment kept
- ☐Reported at cybercrime.gov.in with the UPI IDs
- ☐Bank informed of the beneficiary accounts
Where to report
- • 1930 — national cyber-crime helpline (money lost: call within the first hour)
- • cybercrime.gov.in — National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal
- • chakshu.sancharsaathi.gov.in — report fraud numbers and SMS
- • sachet.rbi.org.in — RBI complaints about unregistered lenders / deposit schemes