Suspicious WhatsApp Recruitment **** 🚨

This morning, I received an unsolicited WhatsApp message from an unknown business number (+27 67 128 5468) claiming to be from the 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺. The message simply said, “𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”

When I clicked on the profile, it displayed the name “𝘗𝘢𝘺𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘓𝘶𝘻” with a picture of a young Caucasian/Asian girl. Confused but curious, I responded, “𝘏𝘪. 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?”

The reply came from someone named “𝘓𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘰,” who introduced themselves as the 𝘏𝘙 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘵 1𝘴𝘵 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘋𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. They offered me a “𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘣” with tasks taking 3-5 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 and 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

🚩 𝗥𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝗹𝗮𝗴𝘀:

1. The account name (𝘗𝘢𝘺𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘓𝘶𝘻) didn’t match the introduction (𝘓𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘰).

2. The job description was vague and too good to be true: “𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘈𝘱𝘱 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘥.”

3. They offered a “𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥” of 30 ZAR and promised daily earnings of 600-1600 𝘡𝘈𝘙.

4. When I asked for confirmation that 1𝘴𝘵 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘋𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 is based in Sandton, they ignored my question and continued pushing the job details.

5. They asked for my age, which felt irrelevant and invasive.

I searched for the company online and found no legitimate contact details or website. The only mention was a 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼 𝗣𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 by 𝘚𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘯𝘪 𝘎 from last month, describing a similar ****. I sent a screenshot of the review and asked for an explanation—no response.

When I requested a contact number to verify the company’s legitimacy, they repeated the same scripted message: “𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘓𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘙 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘵 1𝘴𝘵 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘋𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨…”

At this point, it was clear this was a ****. I blocked the number and reported it to WhatsApp.

𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀:

• Be cautious of unsolicited job offers, especially those promising easy money.

• Verify the company’s legitimacy through official channels before engaging.

• Never share personal information like your age, ID number, or bank details with unknown contacts.

Stay safe out there! 🛑