Cab and Delivery Partner Onboarding Fee Scam over the phone

How it looks over the phone, the red flags and what to do.

Callers pretend to be bank staff, police, a courier, a telecom officer or a relative, and they try to keep you on the line while you act. Cab and Delivery Partner Onboarding Fee Scam is one of the ways this shows up: A fake recruiter says you can join a ride or delivery app after paying for an ID, uniform or kit. See how onboarding fees trap job seekers.

What cab and delivery partner onboarding fee scam looks like over the phone

• A second "senior officer" who takes over the call.
• An unknown or international number, or a number that looks like a real office.
• A calm, official voice that already knows your name or the last digits of your card.

The scammer posts on social media or in local groups that a company is hiring partners, with earnings of a few thousand a day and an immediate start. He uses the brand's name and logo and sends a link to a form that copies the real onboarding page. After the form, a call confirms the 'selection' and explains the fees for activation in a cheerful, professional voice.

Red flags to check on the phone call

• A fee for an ID, kit, uniform or activation.
• A form link that is not on the brand's official site or app.
• A refundable deposit to start work.
• A few slots left in your city with a two-hour deadline.
• You are told to keep the call secret.
• The caller wants you to install an app to "fix" something.

What to do

1. Apply only through the company's official app or site typed by hand.
2. Do not pay any fee. Genuine onboarding is free or deducted openly from earnings.
3. Visit the company's partner centre or hub, if one exists, before sharing documents.
4. Tell a family member and report the number on the Sanchar Saathi portal (Chakshu facility).
5. Hang up. A real bank or office will not mind that you call them back.
6. Call the bank or office on the number printed on your card, bill or official app, not on a number the caller gave.

Report the number on the Sanchar Saathi portal (Chakshu facility). If money moved, call 1930 immediately.

If money or a code is already gone

1. Call 1930 and report at cybercrime.gov.in with the payments and chat.
2. Tell your bank on the number printed on your card about the transfers.
3. Inform the real company through its official support about the fake recruiter.
4. Watch for misuse of your licence or RC copies and report it if it occurs.

National Cyber Crime Helpline: 1930; report at cybercrime.gov.in.

Safeavio's link check can look at the onboarding form link you paste and warn about lookalike domains, and the scam check marks the activation fee and the few-slots pressure in a message. Money Shield gives a verify-before-you-pay checklist. It cannot confirm a recruiter's authority or see inside the company's app, so check onboarding only in the official app. Confirm onboarding in the official app.

Full guide: Cab and Delivery Partner Onboarding Fee Scam: how it works, signs and what to do. Other channels: WhatsApp, social media, SMS.

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