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It began with a Telegram message.
The text, from an unknown user going by the name Josephine Chang, promised a quick and easy job with reasonable commissions.
Enticed by the opportunity, Lina (not her real name) replied to express her interest.
The job seemed simple enough. Chang told Lina that she had to rate airlines via an online platform to “promote and advertise” the airlines. The more ratings Lina completed, the more commission she would get.
But with a catch: first, she had to make a deposit.
Screenshot of the rating system. Photo courtesy of Lina.
Snowball effect
Lina, a 28-year-old admin manager, considers herself a trusting character. Even so, she shared that at the start, she “really didn’t want to do it”.
But Chang was persuasive. She explained that the deposit was required to prove the authenticity of the ratings — after all, every rating has to be tied to a transaction.
Screenshot of a text message from Chang. Image courtesy of Lina.
The money would be returned to her, Chang assured, with the commission on top of it. All Lina had to do was take that first step.
The first sum Lina was told to deposit was S$112.
Lina said she has heard stories about scams making the rounds, but she did not think she was falling into one as a victim — even when she had to fork out money.
“[I thought] if lose it, then lose…
