I lost $8,000 after just 1 day working an online data entry job

Having read about the various tricks and fraudulent methods used by scammers, I never joined suspicious social media groups and never thought that I too would become a victim. Despite my usual caution with online scams, I was unable to defend myself when targeted.

Last Sunday, I came across a recruitment post on Facebook from a limited liability company with a detailed address in Hanoi. The post also named the company’s legal representative, which gave me confidence.

The job posting was for an online data entry clerk with a salary of VND200,000-400,000 per day. Finding the job suitable for me, I contacted the employer through Facebook and was quickly hired.

I was added to a group with six members on Zalo, a social media and messaging platform. The other members were people who also applied for the job. We were then instructed to perform data entry tasks according to the given requirements. As it was an online job, the company paid us immediately after each task.

Later, the company's representative asked us to transfer money to receive more work, thereby increasing our income. Trusting the company after getting paid for work and seeing that the bank account was clearly labeled as belonging to the limited liability company, I complied without hesitation. After each transfer, I received a "system error" message and was asked to make another.

In total, I transferred VND200 million. The company demanded that I transfer more money to withdraw the previous amount, but I could not do so as I had no funds left. I later discovered that I had been scammed.

This was all the savings I had accumulated over several years of work. I have not filed a complaint with the police due to personal reasons.

Is there anything I can do to prevent others from falling victim to the same scam?

*This opinion was translated into English with the assistance of AI. Readers’ views are personal and do not necessarily match VnExpress’ viewpoints.