In October, 27-year-old Mandeep Gurung from Dhulikhel thought he had found a respite from his struggles. Gurung (who the Post is identifying with a pseudonym for privacy) came to Kathmandu from Jhapa in January 2024 with the hope of a better income. But he faced months of difficulty finding a job.

With the pressure of supporting his family and rent mounting, he was drawn to a sponsored Facebook post offering lucrative earnings for simple online tasks. “Earn up to Rs60,000 per month working from your phone,” the ad read.

For Gurung, the promise of earning Rs60,000 a month by performing simple online tasks seemed too good to pass up.

The Facebook ad led him to a Telegram group, where Gurung was welcomed by a ‘coordinator’ (fraudster posing as a Daraz subsidiary company’s coordinator) who explained the process.

Tasks seemed simple enough: liking websites, subscribing to YouTube channels, and sharing promotional links. To start, however, Gurung had to deposit Rs5,000 as a ‘membership fee’.

“At first, I was hesitant,” Gurung said, “but I thought, why not take a chance? They even paid me Rs1,000 after my first task, which made it seem legitimate.”

Encouraged by the coordinator’s continuous lies that he would be paid double when completing higher tasks, Gurung deposited more money over the next month.

In total, he invested Rs25,000—the amount he had saved for rent. The cycle abruptly ended when the coordinator asked him to recruit five new participants. Gurung was then blocked from the Telegram group.

“I now feel ashamed,” Gurung said. “I trusted them because they paid me initially, but it was just a trap. My savings are gone… I don’t know what to do.”

Gurung’s experience is far from unique. Employment fraud in Nepal is increasing, according to Superintendent of Police Deepak Raj Awasthi, spokesperson and information officer for the Cyber Bureau.

“These scams exploit trust and desperation. Victims are lured into schemes via platforms like Telegram, where fraudsters provide instructions for tasks that initially seem credible but eventually turn exploitative,” said Awasthi.

Data from Nepal’s Cyber Bureau reveals a surge in cybercrimes, particularly electronic transaction frauds, over the past few years.

In the fiscal year 2022-23, a total of 9,013 cybercrime cases were reported, with 1,835 related to electronic transaction fraud. By the following year, the number of cybercrime cases increased to 19,730 with electronic transaction fraud comprising 20.84 percent (4,112 cases) of the total, according to the bureau.

This upward trend continues into the current fiscal year (2024-25), with 3,257 electronic transaction fraud cases already registered. Among these, the highest number of cases (1,186) fall under the category of ‘online job/loan’ or ‘employment fraud’ scams.

The second most reported type involves ‘online shopping/online marketplace’ scams, with 1,027 cases. Additionally, 26 cases have been filed under ‘lure of foreign employment’, where victims were deceived online with false promises of overseas jobs.

Aside from employment fraud, cyber scams range from e-commerce cheatings (where consumers pay but never receive goods), to phishing (impersonation of officials from some established companies like Daraz and eSewa), and even fraudulent flat rental listings.

According to Awasthi, the total value of electronic transaction scams this fiscal year has reached Rs450 million.

Even the report from the Financial Intelligence Unit-Nepal, ‘Cyber-Enabled Frauds under Strategic Analysis Report, 2024’ by Nepal Rastra Bank, indicated a sharp rise in fraud-related suspicious transactions in the first five months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.

Fraudsters often use ads on social media platforms to lure victims into Telegram groups, according to Awasthi. There, victims like Gurung are assigned tasks that initially appear legitimate. To maintain credibility, scammers deposit small amounts of money into victims’ accounts for completed tasks.

“It’s a calculated strategy,” Awasthi says. “Once trust is established, the fraudsters demand additional deposits under the guise of unlocking higher earnings. Eventually, the scammers disappear.”

In some cases, victims are tricked into sharing their bank details with fake job listers or are tasked with making transactions between accounts as part of their ‘job’. These seemingly harmless tasks place the victims at the heart of illegal schemes, as the transactions occur under their names and accounts.

In some instances, fraudsters entice victims with promises of small payments—like a monthly salary or a 2 percent commission—just to facilitate transactions through their bank or eSewa accounts.

“Many victims are unaware that they are being drawn into fraudulent activities, and their accounts become conduits for illegal transactions,” said SP Awasthi. “When investigations unfold, these individuals find themselves already trapped in trouble, while the scammers disappear.”

The Cyber Bureau understands the victims’ plight and does not penalise them, but Awasthi said that the growing volume of these cases is making it increasingly difficult to manage the situation.

According to the bureau, Telegram is the primary platform used for electronic transaction fraud and scams. Investigating these cases proves challenging, as Telegram does not provide the necessary data to the Cyber Bureau.

“Our only option is to trace the flow of money through bank records,” Awasthi said. “Often, when we contact the numbers traced from the bank, the calls go unanswered, or the numbers are no longer in use. It’s more complicated when the fraudsters operate from outside Nepal.”

The digital landscape is expanding faster than public awareness of cybersecurity.

For instance, according to a report by Nepal Rastra Bank, 70 percent of the individuals implicated in cyber-enabled fraud cases are aged between 19 and 30.

These days several banks through their websites have been cautioning that it’s against the law to lend your account for others’ use or unauthorised purposes. Yet, people often fall into these traps.

“While 4G has reached remote areas, awareness of internet risks hasn’t”, says Awasthi.

He believes that technology should follow awareness, not the other way round. People are getting access to technology without understanding digital security, which is leading to an increase in cybercrimes and frauds.

“The Cyber Bureau’s major role is to investigate crimes. While raising awareness is our concern too, we cannot do it all with limited resources… The government must seriously work to form a separate team or body to improve public awareness of these issues at the grassroots level”, adds Awasthi.