Hotel review scam: Student loses $42k, works 48-hour weekends after putting parents, landlord in debt

When Sanjay* moved to Christchurch last December, he was a promising and focused student with a passion for science.

His education prospects were encouraging - backed by a multi-thousand dollar scholarship and ready to embark on his PhD studies.

But by March this year, his life had fallen apart.

After being caught up in a scam, he’d squandered a large portion of his scholarship income and his parents’ retirement money and almost cost his landlord a long-awaited trip overseas.

The stress of paying back his landlord led to his working 48-hour weekends, from Friday to Saturday, at three jobs over January, causing regular nosebleeds and damaging his mental health.

Sanjay arrived in New Zealand as a promising PhD science student, within months his studies hung in the balance. Photo / 123rf

Now, his studies hang by a thread - with pressure to perform at the risk of being dropped from the course.

The cause of Sanjay’s downfall? An advertised job on Seek.co.nz for reviewing hotels.

Telling his story to the Herald on Sunday, Sanjay said the job appeared legitimate at the start - he received a call from somebody who trained him on how the role worked.

It was a simple concept at first - give five stars and write a brief comment about hotels on a website they provided. He’d be paid up to $200 for 35 reviews.

Sanjay has since come to believe the website was fake, created by the company he’d agreed to work for.

Payments from the company were to be paid into a crypto-currency account. Sanjay was okay with this given his interest in the crypto world.

When all 35 reviews were completed, Sanjay would be paid.

But there was a catch.

Sanjay was told that during his 35 reviews, there would be three occasions he’d be asked to pay for a hotel booking.

The booking cost would range from $159 to $800, it had to be paid from his own pocket and he would earn a 2 per cent commission for each one.

As he set about his reviews, Sanjay paid for three bookings totalling $3000, chewing up his scholarship income.

Then, a fourth booking appeared - confusing Sanjay, more so because the cost of the single booking was $3916.

He’d been added to a group chat of other “employees” and asked why a fourth booking had come through - to which they called him “lucky” and suggested it was due to a Christmas rush.

Sanjay said his job initially appeared legitimate, a trainer walked him through the process and was part of a group chat with other "employees". Photo / Jason Oxenham

Making matters more confusing, it was suddenly revealed to Sanjay bookings came in “bundles” of three.

There were two bundles, he’d completed one bundle and was now onto the second and final bundle - with three more booking payments.

“They put the screw on me and said if I don’t pay the booking, the [crypto account] will freeze for six months, but didn’t give a time frame,” said Sanjay.

“So I freaked out.”

Short on money, the student then turned to his parents for income.

Both were sceptical at first, but his father - a retired “old-school” businessman became convinced by the scheme.

They offered to pay the $3916 sum - but Sanjay, anticipating higher costs down the line wanted $20,000 for safety.

His parents gave him the full amount, plucked straight from their hard-earned retirement savings.

Sanjay paid the fourth booking, and immediately a fifth appeared, asking for $9750.

Exhausting more of his parent’s savings, which were enough to cover the asking amount, Sanjay paid the fifth booking.

Then, with 31 reviews completed, a sixth booking.

$19,170.

“I was like ‘how can I keep doing this?’, I‘m down all this money and told the customer service I couldn’t afford it,” said Sanjay.

“They told me it was the last job of the last bundle - if I finished this, I would definitely get all my money back.”

As he set about his reviews, Sanjay paid for his three bookings totalling $3000, chewing up all his scholarship income. Photo / 123rf

At this stage, Sanjay strongly suspected he’d fallen for a scam, but wanted to believe the finish line was near given his 35 reviews were nearly complete.

His parents couldn’t provide any more financial help, he had little more than $7000 remaining from their generous loan but was already indebted to them.

Needing $12,000 more, Sanjay turned to his landlord who had taken an interest in his crypto account and wanted to invest himself.

“I said I’d give him some of the profit, he gave me [the $12,000] but needed $10,000 of it back by the end of January, as he had a holiday planned next month.”

With money in hand and ready to finish his job, Sanjay paid the final $19,170 booking fee.

A wave of shock hit him as yet another booking appeared, this time demanding a payable fee of $39,977.

“That was my breaking point,” said Sanjay.

“It was the first time I realised - no, okay this [group chat] is fake.”

By this stage, Sanjay had sunk $42,000 into the scam. He begged customer service for a refund, but they refused and demanded the $39,977 booking fee.

Bookings continued to appear, forcing Sanjay into deeper debt with money that didn't belong to him. Photo / Supplied

The student didn’t pay, a week later he was blocked from the review website and a month later, was kicked from the group chat.

“I put everything at risk,” said Sanjay, tears welling up in his eyes.

Desperate to pay his landlord back the money he borrowed, Sanjay worked 48 hours every weekend in December and January.

He plied three jobs at a grocery store, retail outlet and restaurant continuously from 6pm Friday until 6pm Sunday.

The stress of working multiple jobs took a toll on top of managing his university studies, Sanjay suffered constant nosebleeds and sleep deprivation.

By the end of January, with further help from his parents, Sanjay was able to pay back his landlord.

However, it was his once-promising study future that now hung in the balance.

“My study timings were odd, managing my energy with sleep and study,” said Sanjay.

“The university realised this and I got a call to say that I needed to show my commitment to the course or I would be kicked from the course.”

Sanjay said he had until June to prove his commitment to his study.

Further pressure on Sanjay now means he’s expected to be on campus during all working hours, preventing him from working any more.

“I didn’t do this out of greed,” he said.

Sanjay's professor pointed out he’d had come to New Zealand to study, but had now “ended up in this mess”. Photo / Supplied

“It was just to get a part-time job, I genuinely love science and came with a passion for it, but things happened in this way.”

Sanjay said he feels constant embarrassment for what his actions caused, including tense relationships in his family and with his landlord.

“Some are greedy and get scammed, but many have good plans and get scammed convincingly,” he said

Following his losses, Sanjay encourages anyone wanting to enter an investment to only front up money that can be earned back in a month.

“Even if it’s legitimate, borrowing money is a really bad idea,” the student said.

“If I stopped at $3000, I would have lived a much happier life right now.”

Sanjay has been offered by the scam business to have his account opened for one week more in order to have the booking cost paid.

The Christchurch student opened the account to gather evidence of the scam and intends to submit a police report in the coming months.

In regards to the Seek advertisement, a spokesperson for the company told the Herald that controls are in place to ensure hirers and jobs posted are legitimate.

These checks include filtering tools, business checks and teams who scan job adverts.

“Despite this, we are aware that from time to time there are bad actors in the market who attempt to use the Seek platform, or the Seek brand name, to scam candidates,” the spokesperson said.

“For this reason, we encourage candidates to be diligent when using the platform and to be cautious in sharing private information during the application process.”

Seek also recommended candidates report any fraudulent activity directly to the company and the Commerce Commission of New Zealand.

*The student’s name has been changed for the purpose of telling his story to protect his privacy