
This happened at the end of October, and honestly, I still think about it a lot.
I’m a student, and like most students, I was desperately looking for a job. I have experience in digital marketing and customer service, and until then, all my work had been remote. I applied to countless remote jobs, but nothing worked out rejection after rejection. Eventually, I gave up and started looking for onsite jobs in my own city.
That’s when I came across a Customer Representative Officer position. It sounded decent, the office was in my city, and I was called for an interview the very next day.
The office was in a bungalow, which felt unusual, but I ignored it. This was going to be my first onsite job, so I told myself not to overthink. The man who interviewed me introduced himself as the branch manager. He said his name was Syed Ali.
Midway through the interview, he casually pulled out an electric cigarette and started smoking.
I have asthma.
I politely told him I wasn’t comfortable with it. Instead of apologizing, he laughed. He eventually stopped, but that moment stayed with me. It was extremely unprofessional. Still, I needed the job.
He told me there would be 7 weeks of training, my job would only involve dealing with customers, and the salary would be 25,000 PKR. For me, that was a lot. I had been earning 10,000 PKR at a bookstore before this. So I said yes.
The next day, I joined.
Almost everyone in the office was a woman, and most of us were new. Training began, and that’s when things started feeling… off.

We were told our job was to:

Take pictures of cars and houses from OLX

Note their original prices
Then list them on Facebook Marketplace with a 5% down payment
For example, if a car was worth 25 lac, we were told to list it for 5 lac as a “down payment” deal.
The ads had to say things like “Buy this car on easy installments, only 5% down payment”, and we were told to use our personal WhatsApp numbers.
When people contacted us, our only task was to convince them to visit the branch. After that, “seniors” would handle everything. We were promised 1% commission if a deal closed.
I didn’t know much about car financing, but my gut immediately told me something wasn’t right. It felt fishy. Still, I had signed a 2-month agreement, so I ignored my doubts.
Then I started noticing the branch manager’s behavior.
He kept coming into our cabin repeatedly for no real reason. His stares made me uncomfortable. Something about him felt wrong.
I used to go to the office at 1 PM after university and leave around 6 PM. After a couple of days, all the seniors showed up. When they found out I was a digital marketer, they asked me to handle marketing. I tried explaining things professionally, but their responses made no sense.
That’s when I noticed more red flags:
Everyone handled “deals” on their personal phones
The company’s website didn’t even work
Completely unprofessional.
At some point, the branch manager got my number from office groups. He started texting me: “Is everything going fine?” “Any issues?” “Did you reach home?” “Are you safe?”
I replied formally, calling him sir. He immediately said, “Don’t call me sir.”
Typical nonsense.
I got fed up and shut him down very clearly one day. His ego got hurt. After that, he started targeting me marking me late even when I wasn’t, creating issues out of nothing, and complaining about my performance.
He even intentionally smoked around me, knowing I had asthma, just to mentally torture me.
Meanwhile, something else bothered me deeply.
Every day, around 40 clients visited the branch. Not a single one was mine. And I know I have strong communication skills.
That’s when everything clicked.
I would post ads, people would message me but I stopped replying properly. I had realized the truth:
They were taking down payments and never delivering cars or houses.

They had four branches:

My city

Karachi (Bahria)

Larkana

Islamabad


Each branch looked “successful.” A single branch would close deals worth 5 lac PKR daily.
And here’s the horrifying part:
They had not delivered a single car or house. Not even one.
The company name was Al Khaleej. All identities were fake. Their entire system was designed to trap people.
Their process was simple:
Take down payment for a car or house
Create fake 10–20 year installment plans
Collect documents, claiming verification through NADRA and police (which never happened)
Delay deliveries endlessly
Keep demanding new “requirements” until the client gave up
Female staff handled all customer communication, while their own men stayed hidden. Staff was hired separately in each city, while the real scammers rotated branches under fake identities.
Anyone could fall for it. Their setup was that convincing.
After one month, I still hadn’t received my salary. I resigned.
I couldn’t do that work. I couldn’t steal someone’s hard-earned money just to survive.
At first, I wasn’t sure. I kept thinking maybe I was overreacting. But once I was certain, my motivation changed completely. I didn’t want money. I didn’t want revenge.
I just wanted evidence.
I collected screenshots, call logs, internal details—everything. I reported it all to the FIA.
A few weeks later, the office in my city was shut down.
On paper, justice was served. But reality was messier.
The main people behind the scam escaped. Before proper action could be taken, they ran and framed their own staff to save themselves.
The branch closed, but they didn’t stop.
They simply changed names, locations, and faces. I later found out they’ve already started operating again under a new company name.
After the shutdown, things got personal.
Syed Ali found out I was behind the reports. Since I had already told my parents everything, he couldn’t touch me directly.
So he called my father.
He made false allegations. Claimed I had “relations” with him. Tried to destroy my character, fully aware of how damaging that is in our society.
Because my parents knew the truth, his attempt failed.
Legally and physically, he couldn’t harm me.
Mentally?
He did.
The stress, fear, and anxiety took a serious toll on my mental health.
I’m still unemployed today.
But I have no regrets.
I’m sharing this because these people don’t stop. They move cities. They rebrand. They show up again.
If a company feels off, trust your gut. If they rush you or avoid transparency, question it. If it sounds too good to be trueit probably is.
The office in my city is gone.
They might show up in yours next.
Stay alert. Stay safe. And please speak up, even if it’s scary

I Almost Became Part of a Scam Without Realizing It