Ruby Robinson always looks forward to watching a movie at the end of a long day at her job as a credit analyst.
So when a text message appeared on the mother of two’s phone in March that appeared to come from the jobs website Reed was advertising as a freelance film critic, she was immediately intrigued.
Ruby, 38, registered on the site and updated her status to “seeking part-time work” at the beginning of the year to earn additional income outside of her office hours.
Callous: Scammers targeted mum-of-two Ruby Robinson, tricking her into paying huge deposits to review films.
She had received several text messages from the company, but so far there were no openings that would fit her busy schedule of juggling a full-time job and caring for two teenagers.
But charging to watch and review movies seemed ideal.
The working hours were flexible and it was claimed that up to £200 a day could be earned.
She responded to the text and received a WhatsApp message from a woman called Julia, who claimed she worked at Vue Cinemas.
He explained that Ruby would work for Vue Cinemas, using ‘affiliate platform’ Google Movie Reviews, to complete ‘daily tasks’. Each task would take 20 to 30 minutes and pay between £30 and £40.
Ruby, from Milton Keynes, signed up. But, unbeknownst to her, she had been the target of a growing scam that police forces across the country had issued warnings about in recent months.
Within ten weeks, she would lose her life savings and be bullied into borrowing money from family and friends in a scam that left her excluded from her loved ones.
You can make money reviewing movies online through genuine platforms like UK Film Review, which pays well-known writers £3 per review of short films and independents.
However, most roles will require you to prove that you are a good writer with an encyclopedic knowledge of films and television series.
After registering on what she now suspects was a fake platform called Google Movie Reviews and providing her personal details, Ruby began completing the tasks.
This involved clicking on images of movie posters, such as Barbie, and clicking complete.
They didn’t ask him to write anything about the films or watch them. The money he had earned was piling up in the upper right corner of the screen.
At the end of the first day, Ruby collected her first commission and £300 was credited to her bank account. She says: ‘The job seemed easy. I had received the money and I thought, “Let’s move on.”
Ruby was added to a WhatsApp group where she could share her experience with 40 other new recruits. Many seemed, from their profile photos, to be parents too.
Ruby says: ‘Everyone introduced themselves and seemed friendly. Now that I look back, I don’t know if they were genuine people, but at the time it seemed very real to me.”
Logging into her Google Movie Review account a day later, Ruby was asked to deposit £50 into her account so she could begin her assignments and was told she would receive it back when she collected her commission.
She says: “It didn’t seem like much and it was worth it – the day before I had received £300.”
Ruby was told she had to pay to unlock the ability to review certain movie titles that paid a higher commission.
She says: “I paid between £400 and £500 to unlock quite a few movies because I thought I’d get my money back.” The assignment was in line with the demand for the film, I was told, and my overall earnings were growing.
Then it became very expensive. “It should have been a red flag, but they do it so gradually that at no point did I think anything was wrong.”
Ruby was told she couldn’t withdraw her winnings until she completed 30 tasks, but unlocking the later ones cost much more.
‘One cost £17,000 but at the time I had invested so much money in it and I could see I was owed £40,000 so I decided to try and raise the cash. I was struggling to find money because I had used up my savings and borrowed from friends.’
To review her latest film, called Barbarian, Ruby was told she would have to pay £23,547 but would get her money back and £1,633 in commission.
She says: ‘In the WhatsApp group, everyone said they had gone through the same struggle but they got their money back. I was desperately trying to raise the money because I had already contributed so much. I struggled but managed to pay for it.’
However, Ruby’s relief turned to horror when she was told that since her commission was worth £50,000, she would have to complete five additional tasks.
‘I told the company that I had exhausted all possible means. I asked for loans and couldn’t continue. They said they could give me a 50 percent discount. But there was still more than £14,503 to pay.
‘I realized something wasn’t right, so I messaged Julia and said, “I’m not comfortable and I feel like I’m being ripped off.” She said, “How could I scam you? You could choose to sue us.”
At the time, Ruby had used £10,000 of her savings, taken out two loans worth £10,000, put £5,000 on her credit card and borrowed £4,500 from two friends.
Desperate for answers, Ruby took to the WhatsApp group where others said they had had similar problems but had finally been paid.
She was told she was the only person with ongoing problems. And he adds: ‘I spoke to a lady in the group, a mother of three who worked in fashion and design, and who I thought was my friend. I told her about my daily struggles, but she told me I must be wrong.’
Cunning: As part of the scam, Ruby was included in a fake WhatsApp group where other users assured her that she would receive the money she was paying.
Ruby opened up to her husband Matt, who was worried about the legitimacy of the company but, wrapped in lies, convinced him that it must be real.
She says: ‘I said I needed £6,000 to be able to withdraw £85,000. He said it sounded a bit fraudulent, but I seemed quite confident and, as others had similar problems, he gave me the money.’
By the end of April, Ruby had handed over £59,428 to the scammers.
She says: ‘I kept the amount to myself, but my husband checked a credit report and saw I had taken out two £10,000 loans.
“That’s when the questions started and he found out how much I had borrowed from my friends and the bank. I was very upset, to say the least.
Ruby didn’t go to her bank or Action Fraud because she still couldn’t face the fact that she might have been scammed. Instead, she asked Julia for explanations, but to her surprise, the agent had blocked her on WhatsApp.
“They also kicked me out of the WhatsApp group because I was making a fuss. I couldn’t eat or sleep and I didn’t know who to turn to.’
Ruby’s debts began to mount as the short-term loans she had taken out were costing her £1,480 a month and she was unable to pay them back.
While struggling to raise funds, Ruby was tempted into another scam in late April. A man he considered a friend and had met online years ago suggested he invest in cryptocurrencies if he wanted to make money quickly.
He was told the investment was in “digital asset mining” and over the next few weeks he borrowed another £10,000 to invest.
When she realized that was also a scam, they recommended a money recovery agency to help her recover funds from her banks. However, after sending £2,500, he suspects the company was also fake.
Ruby is now facing a mountain of debt, she has lost more than £80,000 and doesn’t know how she will be able to pay it all off.
“I can’t believe how quickly it all went wrong,” he says. ‘I no longer recognize myself. I’m normally smart and I can’t understand how I got to this point.’
A spokesperson for Vue Cinemas said: “Vue would never ask anyone for any payment or banking details as part of a job application process.”
“We urge anyone who receives these types of messages not to respond to these requests and to contact the police.”
Keith Rosser, director of Reed Screening, said: “We are sorry to learn of this recent incident.
‘We take the security of our websites very seriously and know that these types of scams often target job seekers directly.
‘We encourage people to look for signs of potential scams when looking for employment.
“These can include receiving an offer immediately without having submitted it, being contacted by WhatsApp, having to pay to work for a company or a company that requests confidential information before hiring.”
- All names have been changed.
j.beard@dailymail.co.uk
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