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Dimapur, Oct. 4 (EMN): Zalando fever has left many investors from across India angry and devastated as the so called "earning app" has stopped functioning.
Started around 9 months ago by an individual named ‘Kevin’ (as mentioned in Trillion Team), Zalando earning app stopped functioning at around 11 am on October 4, leaving thousands of Indians, who fell prey to the scam instead of earning quick bucks, angry and disappointed.
Zalando, a ‘click and earn’ app, promised to give commission in dollar according to tasks one completes.
Trillion Team has a series of sub groups on Telegram.
An individual, who also fell prey of the app, has shared some screenshots of the conversation under ‘Trillion Group’ on Telegram where millions of Indians including Nagas were in.
After few investors were introduced to the app and authentication was reportedly done, they started adding more individuals who were convinced while some ignored saying ‘it will disappear one day’.
Well, it actually disappeared on Tuesday.
Many investors from Nagaland have vented out their desperation via their WhatsApp status, while others make fun of the Ponzi scheme victims.
An individual from Nagaland, who joined Zalando a month ago, shared that she had regained her investment (INR 4500) and earned a little more than INR 6000 too but said that the commission she earned during past two days has now disappeared.
Another couple, who joined the group in June this year, said that they earned a little more than INR 40,000. The husband, who had some knowledge about such scams knew that it will one day disappear. For the couple, Zalando came as a blessing atleast for some months when their financial position was not at its best.
One of the investors also shared that ‘Kevin’ (Founder of Zalando) used to hold meeting at 7:30 pm every evening and would tell all to invest more with promises to run the app for 20 years.
A member of ‘Trillion Team’ from Nagaland shared: “Really a sad news for all of us. It's really a pain to know that Zalando has been shut down; we all knew it would come to an end one day but didn't expect it to be today…” “Now they are trying to convince us and sugarcoat us to join the Lazada. Dear brothers and sisters, don't fall into their trap again. They are targeting those who have earned from Zalando to invest there and when they reach their target they will run away just like Zalando.”
Rumour has been doing the rounds that Lazada, which ‘Kevin’ introduced soon after the shutdown of Zalando, has also been closed down.
Interestingly, few Nagas were also said to have invested in Lazada too.
Those who joined Zalando during its early stages has earned profits but many who joined later or invested more are now devastated as nothing can be done to get their money back though the founder has said that he will compensate in two months.
Almost all of the people who had joined Zalando has no idea how they lost their investment as it seemed like a good idea on witnessing their friends and families earn profits but they have become victims now and cannot do anything about it.
'Seeing the benefits, I thought it was a great investment. So initially, I investment the minimum amount and later a higher amount. But few days into investing a higher amount, I lost whatever I had invested in a blink of an eye as I suddenly could not log in to the app on Tuesday,' an investor at Zalando lamented while acknowledging that they cannot be called a victim as well because most of those who joined Zalando are aware of such scams but still joined out of curiosity and some obviously for money.
A source from Nagaland Police said such scams work by enticing people with profits on investments and once the company reaches their target, they close down. The modus operandi of such scams are similar as they lure with target and money through good return while they continue to bring in more people to join. And once their target is reached, their access is blocked.
'I can't comment if Zalando is genuine or a scam but people should not get thrilled or lured easily for money that includes instant money return. This is not the first incident that has happened in Nagaland. Decades ago, there was similar cases although technology was used those days,' said a police official.
A conversation group for Zalando users had its "group admin" Kevin conveying to the users with the message: "I hate to admit this fact, I joined Zalando 9 months; I gave all my energy, and now it's closed. In fact, we know very well that any project operating for 9 months is very good; all of us who seize the opportunity will make unimaginable money (verbatim)".
In a series of messages, Kevin had once again enticed the members of the groy with another money making app "Lazada", saying that "Lazada was started less than a month ago, which means the initial investors have at least 6 months to make money. Now, let's all start making money together, he said while sharing the invitation code and download link to the group members.
While the Zalando scam has some people expressing regret for joining it, while a few shared that they would join Lazada to make money they had lost on Zalando.