Someone asked you to pay for a job. What to do now
Kisi ne job ke liye paisa manga — ab kya kare.
If you have not paid yet
Agar abhi paisa nahi diya.
Stop there. You have lost nothing, and you do not owe anyone an explanation, an apology or a reply. You do not need to argue, and you do not need to tell them why.
Before you block them, take screenshots. What was asked for, by whom, from which number, and the account or UPI ID it was to be sent to. That costs you a minute now and is the whole of your evidence later — including for the next person, if you report it.
If you have already paid
Agar paisa de diya hai.
Speed matters more than anything else here. Money reported quickly can sometimes be stopped while it is still moving between accounts; money reported weeks later usually cannot. So do this today, in this order, and do not wait until you have collected everything.
- Call 1930 — the national cyber-crime helpline. Free, and open 24 hours
- File the complaint at cybercrime.gov.in as well, so there is a written record
- Tell your bank immediately and ask them to flag the transaction
- Keep every screenshot, receipt, UPI reference and phone number in one place
- Do not send more money. "Pay a little more to release the refund" is the same fraud continuing
The part people skip
Jo log chhod dete hain.
Most people never report it, and the reason is almost always the same: embarrassment. They feel they should have known, so they tell nobody and absorb the loss quietly.
This is worth saying plainly. These operations are practised, they are designed by people who do this every day, and being caught by one is not a comment on your intelligence. Reporting it is the only thing that makes the number attached to it traceable, and the next person who searches that number finds the report you filed.
If it happened on NaukarDundo
Agar NaukarDundo par hua ho.
Open the job and use the report link. Reporting is free, needs no account, and goes to a person. You can also write to grievance@naukardundo.com.
We take listings down and remove employers over this. Tell us even if you did not pay and even if you are not certain — a report that turns out to be nothing costs us a few minutes, and one we never received costs someone else their money.
Common questions
I paid a fee for a job that turned out to be fake. What should I do first?
Call 1930, the national cyber-crime helpline, today. Then file at cybercrime.gov.in and tell your bank. Money reported quickly can sometimes be stopped in transit; money reported weeks later usually cannot.
Should I pay more to get my money back?
No. Being asked for a further payment to "release" a refund is the same fraud continuing. Stop paying and report it.
Is reporting a fake job on NaukarDundo free?
Yes. Reporting is free, needs no account, and goes to a person who can take the listing down.