If it looks like free money, you are the product
The iPhone giveaway: "You won! Pay Rs 2,000 delivery." There is no iPhone. 400 people paid Rs 2,000 = Rs 800,000 for one fake post.
Bought followers/pages: "10k followers Rs 1,500" — they're bots. Instagram detects and shadow-bans your account. You paid to damage your own reach.
'Cheap' gaming top-ups: UC/diamond sellers on WhatsApp at half price take your payment and vanish — or take your login "to deliver" and strip the account.
The verification math: Before ANY online purchase, spend 2 minutes:
- Google Lens reverse-search their product photo (stolen from AliExpress/Depop?)
- Check account creation date ("About this account")
- Search "<shop name> scam" on Facebook — Voice of Customer PK groups
- Comments disabled = instant no
Rule: Too cheap + too urgent + advance payment = scam. Every single time.