The promise of easy work from home is bait for one of the fastest-growing scams. In just the first half of 2024, people reported losing more than $220 million to job scams, and a newer type called the “task scam” is driving the surge.
How it works. You get an unexpected text or WhatsApp message: “We saw your resume, earn $500 a day from home.” A common trap is the task scam: you are hired to do simple tasks like liking videos or rating products in an app that shows your “earnings” going up. To “unlock” your money or keep earning, you are told to deposit your own money, often in cryptocurrency. It never comes back. Another version is the overpayment scam: a “new employer” sends you a check to buy equipment, tells you to deposit it and wire back the extra, then the check bounces and you owe the bank.
Red flags:
- You are hired with no real interview, or offered a job you never applied for.
- The pay is high for simple work, and the offer comes by text or a chat app.
- You are asked to pay for equipment, training, or a “starter kit,” or to receive and forward money or packages.
- Any task that involves depositing your own money to “earn” more.
A quick example. A text offers you $30 per task to “boost products” in an app. Your balance climbs, then you are told to add $200 of your own to withdraw it. That is a task scam. Stop there.
What to do:
- Never pay to get a job, and never deposit your own money to “unlock” earnings.
- Verify the employer yourself: look up the company and apply through its real website.
- Do not accept checks to buy equipment and wire back the difference.
- (This connects to our free course Finding Legitimate Online Work Without Getting Burned, which goes deeper on finding real jobs and getting paid safely.) If you already sent money or deposited a check, call your bank the same day and ask them to stop or reverse it. Then report scams at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.