A woman lost £4,000 in a day after signing up for an “online side hustle” she spotted on Facebook – which turned out to be a cryptocurrency scam. Business owner Monika Zytowiecka, 38, decided to take up an online side hustle to pass quieter spells between clients at her job as a beautician.
Monika saw a non-specific post on Facebook looking for part time staff – to earn up to £250 a day – ‘processing online orders’ with ‘no experience required’. She contacted the advertiser on WhatsApp and was instructed to log into a system where she was given a budget to make online orders – anything from kids clothes to stationary and skincare – to “improve businesses ratings”, she said.
Monika was told to top up her budget with her own money if it got too low to make the purchases, but says she was reassured she would be refunded straight away, with commission added. This happened as promised the first time – but she says she was then asked to make larger and larger ‘top ups’ of over £1,200.
Each time she panicked, her mentor she communicated with on Telegram, ‘Allison’, would reassure her once she had completed her ‘tasks’ she could withdraw her money along with her commission. Finally after being asked to splash out £1,596, her bank blocked the payment from being sent – after suspecting Monika was being targeted by scammers.
Then the sales platform she was using vanished – along with nearly £4,000 of her money – and her bank and Action Fraud claim there’s nothing they can do. Monika, from Shirley, Southampton, said: “I had been seeing these posts about ‘work from home’ opportunities on Facebook.
“My business was slow so I thought some extra cash would be nice when I had some spare time. I was told I could earn from £20 to £500 helping boost reviews and get new clients for online sellers. I paid £12 when they asked me to top up my account funds, then they paid me back with my commission. But the next times I had to pay more, then more, then more.
“As it went on I got more hesitant but they told me if I didn’t do it quickly I would pass the time limit for the task. In one day I lost nearly £4k, but solicitors won’t help me unless it was over £10k, they said.”
On September 7, Monika contacted the person who advertised the part time job and they spoke via a WhatsApp chat where the process was explained to her. She was given login details to access their sales platform – where she would place the online orders with a budget she was given.
She was then transferred to a Telegram chat with someone called ‘Allison’ who guided her through the process. The first time she needed to ‘top up’ her account with her own money, starting with just £12, ‘Allison’ reassured her she would always get her money back immediately, with commission added.
And the first time she did – leaving Monika impressed as she earned £35 profit from just 40 minutes work. But as she was requested to ‘top up’ higher and higher amounts of up to several hundred pounds, she grew suspicious.
They told her she would need to complete a number of ‘missions’ within a time frame to claim back her money plus commissions. But every task they said would be the ‘last one’ was followed by yet another task.
She said: “They told me I hit a ‘jack bundle’ and I would need to pay £1,281 – I was hesitant but once again they reassured me it was all legitimate. I paid it but then when I went to withdraw my money they said I passed the time limit and would need to do another task – a ‘repair task’ to get it back.”
Eventually, Monika’s bank stepped in after she attempted to send £1,596, and her fears she had been scammed were confirmed. She went to Action Fraud – who were unable to help.
She claims a solicitor said she hadn’t lost enough money for it be worth them taking on her case. Then she said the platform she was using vanished, and the contact who she had spoken to changed their name.
Monika wants to warn others of similar scams out there. She said: “I can’t be the only one being scammed like this. I don’t consider myself vulnerable but I allowed someone to take advantage of me. There could be people out there losing their lifetime savings like this.”
Claire Webb, Acting Director of Action Fraud, said: “Action Fraud can confirm that it received a complaint on 7 September 2024. It was assessed by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) at the City of London Police but has not been passed to a police force for investigation.
“It will continue to be reviewed against new information received from Action Fraud reports. Over 850,000 reports are made to the NFIB every year and not all cases can be passed on for further investigation. Reports are assessed against a number of criteria, but not every case of fraud will result in a judicial outcome.
“There are different ways a report can be dealt with when it cannot be passed to a police force. These include the National Economic Crime Victim Care Unit (NECVU) helping victims to reclaim monies lost. Reports are vital in helping the police develop intelligence and take disruptive activity to prevent other people from falling victim, such as taking down websites, telephone numbers and email addresses linked to fraud.”