| Address: Mumbai City, Maharashtra, 400051 |
This post is going to be a long one as I will be describing the complete incident in detail but if you want to jump to the summary than you can directly start from the bottom where I have mentioned the incident in bullets. (Please ignore any grammar error as I am not a professional writer).
I generally don’t write much over social media or any kind of blogs, I prefer being a silent reader like many o[censored]s. You guys must be wondering then why I am writing here if I am a silent reader?
Well, what brings me here to write my first post is a strange incident that happened with me on 18/06/2019 Tuesday.
Actually, it started three days before that date on Saturday when I got a call from my colleague who has never ever called me before that day.
Before going into details of what happened with me let me tell you something about him.
He is working in the same company with me but in different department, we generally share pleasantries while crossing each other.
This guy has created an impression in the office that he is doing some kind of business along with the job and because of it he is very much affluent and was able to buy a brand new car, a house in his hometown, a new Harley Davidson bike and foreign tours every six months with his family.
He used to often share pictures of all these luxuries over his social media profiles.
Everyone in the office were surprised/jealous with the kind of success this guy has made in just 2 years with a business unknown to most o[censored]s.
So coming back to where I left, there was a missed call from him when I checked my phone, I called him back to know as what made him to call me today. He picked up my call before the phone could have finished the first ring.
He asked me as how I am and what are my plans are for the weekend as a casual acquaintance will do over the call. Soon he said that you must be aware of the fact that I am doing the business and that has changed his fortunes completely. He said that he has bought a new car, house, bike etc and all those thing in cash with this business and now he is looking for a partner who can help him to expand this business.
He asked me if I am willing to get into business as there is no personal life in job and savings are very less.
I said to him “YES” why not? If opportunity is there than why not to cash it.
Soon I asked him as a curious person would ask, what is the business you are in? And why do want me to join?
He was silent for a second and dodged the question of what business he is in by saying that he will discuss it with me in detail later on and for Why me, he said that he don’t know but just felt that I can be a perfect partner for this role.
Somehow I was not convinced with both the answers. He continued by saying that he is working with a team of CA, MBA & Engineers in this business and all are very good in their areas. He said that they are going to fill this position for Mumbai very soon and his senior partner is meeting individuals for this position.
He asked me again, are you interested? If yes, then he can schedule a meeting for me as his senior partner will be in the town either on Monday or Tuesday.
I replied by saying yes, but at the back of my mind somehow I was sensing something fishy as he has not yet disclosed the business and has scheduled a meeting already.
Day passed normally and I watched India vs Pakistan world cup match next day without thinking much about the proposed business opportunity which was lying ahead of me.
Monday morning I got a call from him at 8AM in the morning, he said to me that meeting has been finalized for Tuesday at 12:15PM and I must come in formals and if possible before time. I said Ok to him and inquired him about the place where I have to reach?
He said that he will inform me about the place once his partner is in the city and that will depend upon his busy schedule. I said Ok and disconnected the phone.
Next day again in the morning around 8AM I got a call from him, he said that I have to reach at a big mall in Kurla. I agreed to him and reached the destination before the scheduled time.
I called my colleague and told him that I have reached the mall and asked him as where should I come know. He said that he is in a meeting and will call me later and I have to wait for some time at the food court. I was not happy with the kind of response I received from him but I didn’t have any option than to wait as I have come a long way from my home for this meeting.
I waited for almost an hour and was getting pissed off with the kind of cold response I have got from him.
He called me an hour later and told me to come to a café in the same mall.
I reached there in no time and there I saw my colleague sitting alone in corner. We greeted each other by shaking hands and then sat.
I asked about his partner whereabouts and what was he doing before and how long he is into the business?
Again, my colleague dodged all the questions and told me to be calm and be confident and told me to ask all the questions from his senior partner.
He added by saying that ever since he has met this man his life has changed completely, he is like a fatherly figure to him now and he has really helped him to come out of his miserable life that he was living two years ago. He boasted about him by saying that he was working with an MNC at AGM position with a handsome salary but he left his job to get into this business and now you see he is driving an audi, wearing rolex watch, and is having his own 3 BHK flat in Mumbai.
I was impressed and at the same time I was really getting pissed off after waiting for almost an hour at the food court and now he is not even ready to answer the basic question “What is the Business”?
Few minutes passed and his senior partner came we both stood up to greet him, he greeted back and we all sat.
So he straight away looked at me and shot his set of questions before I could have spoken anything.
He started with this general one liner question “Tell me something about you”? I answered his question giving the details about myself, what I do, my family background etc. Then his next question was why do you want to get into the business line? You are doing well in your job then what brings you here? I answered by saying that I have certain ambitions in life which I believe will not be possible with this 9 to 5 Job plus if you are in business than sky is the limit.
He then started talking about his journey into the business by stating that he was also like me working day in night out for a company. He has worked with top companies in India but somewhere deep inside he was not satisfied. He then while working saw one of his friend getting fired from the company for no reason and that’s what infused the fire in him of doing something of his own. He started working part-time for his business dream and then slowly when earnings increased he left his job.
He said when I looked at my boss, he was driving a Mercedes given by company, a designation of VP given by company but when he retires nothing will remain with him and all his hard work will be gone, his children can’t have that same designation while he is leaving they have to create their own, they have to start everything again from zero.
He shot another question on me, how much do you earn? I was taken back from that sudden question but I answered reluctantly. He smiled and said do you know there is a tea vendor near Ghatkopar station who sells “Malai chai” for Rs10. What do you think his earnings would be? I said I don’t know. He gave his rough calculations stating that he went there with his friend there one fine day, they sat there for one hour, almost 40 cups were sold within that one hour, if he is doing that business for 12 hours a day he will be selling almost 480-500 cups in one day. Cost per cup for tea would be 2 rupee so margin will be around Rs 8 per cup so in all he will be earning Rs 4000 by selling tea. Now he was not just selling tea he was selling toast, bun, poha along with selling tea, if I calculate those margins also than his daily earning would be Rs 10, 000 per day. Now just compare your earnings with a tea sellers earning who is more financially sound?
I was taken back with those numbers. He said no business is small only mistake people make is not having the courage of starting the business. Only few who step out and are willing to change their life become successful.
I nodded with a yes in my eye. I asked him as what business are you doing he smiled and said that there is not just one business but there are many. They are into healthcare, lifestyle, travel and leisure, online retail etc business. He further explained that they are no salesman but are working for a conglomerate of the companies bringing customers on a platform from where they can buy product just like amazon and flipkart. He said his target is to get atleast 100, 000 loyal customers through marketing who can regularly buy product from that platform and he will make 10-12% of the total value that customer buys.
We are into E-commerce business, now you understood..SIMPLE.. he said with a SMILE.
Somehow I believed in whatever he was saying but in next 10 min I was again taken back with what he asked for!
He asked me, you have been working from last four years how much money you might have saved? An there was a pause between both o[censored]s, I was wondering whether he is just saying it to show how poor a salaried person can be or he is actually asking me how much money I have saved. I roughly said few lakhs. He smiled and then said in which bank account do you hold account? Deep down I was feeling uncomfortable with his such personal questions, reluctantly I told him the name of the bank.
He did some calculations in his mind and told me YOU NEED TO INVEST 12 LAKHS if you want to enter into this business.
I said “WHAT”? Yes he said and told my colleague that if he is able to arrange 12 Lakhs by next week and is serious about the business than we will have the second round of the meeting where we will discuss the strategic part of the business but before that he needs send a screenshot as a proof that funds are in his account. By now I was pretty much sure that it’s a scam in which they are trying to pull me in. Somehow in my mind I was cursing myself as why the hell I came here trusting my colleague’s words as there is no easy way to money, even business needs time and efforts and which happens rarely within the span of two years. I wanted to leave immediately but I don’t know why I decided to stay and listen him out completely.
The so called senior partner was done by now and he left sharing final pleasantries.
I looked at my colleague straight into eyes but he was constantly looking away from me. I told him that I don’t have that much money. Now he looked at me and said even a guy like him can arrange for money within 7 days than for sure I can arrange money. I instantly asked HOW? He said take personal loan, these days it’s easily available and funds gets credited within 3-4 working days in the account.
I was SURPURISED with what he said. Not because funds get credited so easily but he wanted me to fall into this trap.
So much have happened in those 3 hours, from the high aspirations of getting into the business to standing there like a fool.
I left the place, my colleague decided to stay back as he said that he has one more meeting line up with one of his client.
I walked away and stayed in a corner of the floor positioning myself in a way that no one can look at me and I can see actually who is his next client?
I waited there for 7-10 minutes waiting for the person who is going to meet him, back of my mind I knew the answer. And here we go after waiting for another 5 minutes his senior partner steps in again in the same café. I was so freaking right, shouted my mind. It was a strange feeling going throughout me.
One can’t even trust his/her known acquaintances. I have never done any wrong to him than why the hell he was doing this to me? All these questions were pumping into my mind while I was heading towards my office.
I was not able to concentrate that day.I logged into my computer and opened google. I typed “E-commerce marketing scams”.
The first page I found was related to MLM marketing scam with a company name “Q-NET”. What on earth is Qnet now, before today I have never ever heard about that company.
I started reading the thread of comments from various victims of this kind of fraud. It was the same story line that I have mentioned above happened with these victims also which follows as below:
Sudden call from an old friend/colleague
Showing business opportunities with huge scope
Meeting with his/her senior partner generally at a café or a lounge.
Telling you all the negative things about jobs
Portraying big pictures about big businessmen of the country
Giving all the false promises that you will earn crores in next 3 years
Asking you to invest money anything between 1-15 lakhs
Deposit that money into friends account or some unknown account which they call as companies account.
Asking you to read the literature which they use as a trick so that refund time is lost( Please note that Qnet is a genuine company but these people who represent them are frauds)
Guys please note here that there is a refund criteria also and only if you are lucky enough to understand this fraud before passing of one month. Although you have to follow up with Qnet on daily basis to initiate your refund process.
When I finished reading most of the threads available online with all the youtube videos I was very scared with the thought that what is wrong with people these days.
Next day, I got a call from my colleague, he said that his senior partner wants to talk to me and he put the call on conference call. His partner told me that I am selected from their side and asked whether I will be interested to join? With a gritty smile on my face I responded with “NOT INTERESTED” and disconnected the call.
I wanted to expose this incident but somewhere I felt that I should not do this and rather I should pen it down so that more awareness is spread among people and they can save themselves from being victim of such frauds.
QNET customer support has been notified about the posted complaint.
