A Scammer Tried to Scam Me, but Did I Scam Her Instead?

I dealt with a scam, and it's not a traditional scam that will immediately tell you to deposit a huge amount of money in exchange for a profit—it's a mind-conditioning type of scam that will make you earn money first by helping you to believe it’s legitimate.

Last July 13, out of nowhere, I received a message from Viber from an unknown number. It started with a “Hello”, followed by my reply "Po," which, depending on the context, means yes in my language. Then, she started introducing herself, saying that she worked with a company that cooperates with ASUS in dealing with product advertising. Following her introduction, she mentioned the money I will possibly earn, which ranges from P3000 to P8700, or 51.42 to 149.12 in USD dollars daily.

I already knew that this was a scam because, aside from the fact that I had already encountered a lot of scams before, I couldn’t remember asking anyone for a part-time job these past few weeks. Plus, no company would hire an HR team that can’t even spell correctly. In addition, the person who contacted me looked suspicious since she didn’t provide any personal information like a name or picture. I am convinced that this was a scam. However, I still showed my interest in checking what would happen if I bit her bait.

She sent a code and a Telegram link of the person I should contact to receive a $2.74 welcome bonus. I checked the link first before I clicked because this could be a phishing or a link that contains a virus. It seemed normal so I clicked it, and it brought me to a person who has a very suspicious profile picture and name. She also added me to a group chat where I saw different people sending screenshots of their tasks.

But I noticed that their conversation was a little bit odd, so I decided to message one of the members. She responded in my language, but I am still suspicious since she can't converse deeply.

After I sent the code, she asked for some personal information. Of course, I didn’t provide my real name, and I just sent the number where she will send the payment. Surprisingly, I received $2.74 in my digital wallet after that.

I continued to stay in touch with the scammer while she continued to guide me along the process. She then sent me a list of guides or instructions that I needed to do to earn. The instruction involves having a Shopee account, clicking the link of the product that will be sent to our group chat, and liking it. Each task pays $0.69 and I need to reach $ 2.74 before I have my pay-out.

I completed a set of tasks and earned $2.74 again. This is where I started to doubt if this was really a scam because it was my first time encountering a scammer that pays its potential victim instead of directly asking for money. With that, I might consider this a legitimate company as long as I’m not moving my money to another wallet.

Everything seemed fine until the person I was talking to started to reduce my payment to $0.17 per task. She said that I should deposit money so the normal payout of $0.69 would resume. Oh boy, this is the moment I’ve been waiting for to officially declare it a scam! My initial speculation was correct—the initial payments I received were just a mind-conditioning technique that would make me believe that they’re a legit company paying their employees. It seemed like the money they sent to me was just bait to hook me into depositing large amounts of money.

Since I still wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, I continued participating even though it was now only $0.17 per task. It may take me a while to reach $2.74, but as long as I'm not giving out my money, it's still a win-win situation. However, I'm already at the $2.40 mark when she stopped messaging and updating me. Maybe they sensed that I really had no intention of depositing, so they stopped.

In the end, I was able to earn $5.48 effortlessly. Do you think I scammed her instead? On the other hand, I feel bad for individuals who were tricked into investing their money. This is why I am sharing this with you; in case you encounter this kind of scam, you will already know how to deal with it—never, ever send money to someone who promises a high return that seems too good to be true

Update: As of July 23, the group chat has closed down and has not reopened yet. This is a typical scenario in a Ponzi scheme.