Inside The ‘Jio Eat’ Scam
At a time when people are going gaga over ultra-fast food deliveries, a new breed of imposters and cyber criminals has sprung up to defraud unsuspecting users of their hard-earned money. This is what “Jio Eat” is all about.
An Imposter Is Born: The “Jio Eat” platform claims to offer 24/7 food delivery within a 10 km radius of various pockets in 15 Indian cities. It claims to deliver food from popular QSR chains like Pizza Hut, Subway, Burger King, and Wow! Momo, among others.
To appear legitimate, the website displays pages for its privacy policy, shipping and delivery policy, and terms and conditions. Alongside, the fraudsters are running ads on YouTube unchecked, despite complaints piling up on other social media platforms.
The Modus Operandi: When a user attempts to place an order, the platform sends an OTP for a significantly higher amount. For instance, when Inc42 tried placing an order worth INR 130, the OTP received was for processing a transaction of INR 16,119, payable to an entity named “CSC E GOVER”.
This fraud has been brought to the fore at a time when the Centre is up in arms against online frauds, which are becoming increasingly sophisticated by the day. Deepfake tools have further added to this mess, as it is now getting increasingly difficult to tell what’s legit and what’s sham. For now, here is a word of caution — don’t fall for the Jio Eat feast.
From The Editor’s Desk
Indian Fintech’s MDR Paradox: Last week, the Centre denied speculations that it was reinstating MDR on UPI transactions. MobiKwik and Paytm were relying on generating revenues from MDR. Now, what’s the way ahead for Indian fintechs?
Meesho’s Desh Wapsi: The NCLT cleared the ecommerce major’s proposal to reverse flip back to India on May 27. Meesho will pay $288 Mn to the US government to shift its headquarters to the home turf as it gears up for a $1 Bn IPO.
ShareChat CBO Resigns: The homegrown social media platform’s chief business officer Gaurav Jain has tendered his resignation and will depart the company in the next couple of weeks. Jain plans to go from “Bharat to Pan-Asia” for his next venture.
Ads On WhatsApp Soon: The Meta-owned messaging platform has introduced ads on its platform in a push to grow its revenue. Meanwhile, the big tech giant has also elevated Arun Srinivas as the MD and head of the company in India.
InCred’s Stock Broking Foray: Taking on the likes of Zerodha and Groww, InCred Money has now acquired Stocko for an undisclosed amount. Stocko allows users to trade across equities and commodities, with subscription plans starting as low as INR 2.99 per order.
Ather Gets ‘BUY’ Rating: HDFC Securities has initiated coverage on the two-wheeler EV maker with a target price of INR 409, an upside of 28% from the stock’s last closing price on June 16. The brokerage firm estimates Ather to gain the majority market share in the mid-term.
Apple’s Make In India Pitch: iPhone suppliers in India have crossed the 20% domestic value addition mark across variants. The tech giant exported iPhones worth INR 1.50 Lakh Cr from India in FY25, up 76% YoY.
Bike Taxis Banned In K’taka: Complying with a recent High Court order that banned bike taxis in the state, ride-hailing majors Rapido, Uber and Ola have temporarily suspended their allied services in the region.
Inc42 Startup Spotlight
Can Hunar.ai Automate India’s Blue-Collar Hiring With AI?
Despite India’s vast surplus of labour, companies still struggle to hire frontline workers at scale. During their time at automation firm Locus, Krishna Khandelwal and Shantanu Bhattacharyya identified a key issue — the problem wasn’t talent availability but the absence of a trustworthy and scalable hiring system.
Building A High-Trust Hiring Solution: In 2022, the duo launched Hunar.ai, an AI-powered recruitment platform designed specifically for high-volume frontline hiring across sectors like logistics, retail, and manufacturing.
The platform automates sourcing, screening, assessing, and onboarding without the need for third-party vendors. Hunar.ai’s AI voice bot “Neha” and multilingual chatbots ensure consistent candidate engagement across regions, languages, and job roles. The company operates on a services model and offers subscription plans, outcome-linked billing, and custom recruitment contracts.
What’s The Opportunity: India’s frontline workforce exceeds 60 Cr, yet tech adoption in this space remains very limited. With more than 30 enterprise clients already onboard and 50% of its hiring process automated, Hunar.ai is tapping into a massive, underserved market that is ripe for disruption through automation and AI.
What’s On The Horizon? By addressing the inefficiencies of traditional hiring with tech-driven solutions tailored for scale, Hunar.ai is well-positioned to become a key player in India’s frontline recruitment space. With an early traction and automation-first approach, can it pave the way for India’s next wave of blue-collar workforce?
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