Scam Alerts
Fake job offers and task scams: red flags and what to do
Video · 4:44 · Watch on YouTube
Got a text offering a job rating products or liking videos, and now the app wants a deposit? That's a task scam. Here's how fake job offers work, step by step, with real examples, five red flags, what to do if you already paid, and where to report it, from the FTC's and FBI's own warnings.
Protect yourself
How to protect yourself
- Treat a job offer that arrives out of the blue, by text or WhatsApp, as a red flag. FTC
- Never pay to get paid. Honest employers don’t ask you to deposit money, buy equipment or pay a fee to get a job, and “work” that is liking or rating things online for big money is a warning sign. FTC
- Find the job on the company’s own website, and reach the company through a number or site you found yourself, not one from the message. FBI
- Keep your ID, Social Security number and bank details to yourself until you’re actually hired. FBI
- Never bank on a “cleared” check, and never send part of a check back to anyone. FTC
- Already paid? Contact the company you used to send the money (your bank, card company or payment app), report the fraud and ask to reverse it. FTC
Where to report it and get help
- FTC: Job scamsThe FTC’s full guide to fake job offers
- FTC: How to spot and avoid task scamsConsumer alert, Aug. 14, 2025
- ReportFraud.ftc.govReport the scam to the Federal Trade Commission
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)Report online and crypto fraud to the FBI
- IdentityTheft.govIf you shared your Social Security number or ID (FTC)
- Your state attorney generalFind yours on USA.gov
- AARP Fraud Watch Network HelplineFree helpline: call 877-908-3360
Free, no signup: Fake recruiter job scams: a plain-language alert (KeepUp Academy). KeepUp Academy is a sister project from the team behind Undercurrent.
How it works, step by step
1. An unexpected text offers easy online work. [FTC]
2. The chat moves to WhatsApp or Telegram. [FTC; CBS News Philadelphia; Slate]
3. You do tasks in an app that shows fake earnings. [FTC; FBI]
4. Small payouts at first build trust. [FTC]
5. You're told to deposit money, usually crypto, to "unlock" more work. [FTC; FBI]
6. You can't cash out: there's always another payment. [FBI; CBS News Philadelphia]
Bonnie Haring, a Pennsylvania grandmother, told CBS News Philadelphia she lost more than $220,000 in a few days. The other version looks like a real job: a "recruiter," an offer, then a request for your ID, your Social Security number or a fee. CBS News reported on a job seeker who got a check and was told to send $1,000 for equipment; the check bounced.
Five red flags
1. A job offer out of the blue, by text or WhatsApp. [FTC]
2. You pay to get paid, or to get the job. Honest employers don't ask. [FTC]
3. Big money for little work. [FTC]
4. The "work" is liking or rating things online. [FTC]
5. A check arrives and you're told to send part of it on. Never bank on a "cleared" check. [FTC]
Before you trust a recruiter
- Find the job on the company's own website. FBI
- Reach the company through a number or site you found yourself, not one from the message. FBI
- Keep your ID, Social Security number and bank details until you're hired. FBI
What to do
- Haven't paid? Stop replying, skip the links, and look the company up yourself.
- Paid? Contact the company you used to send the money (your bank, card company or payment app), report the fraud, and ask to reverse it, if possible. FTC
- Shared your ID or Social Security number? https://www.identitytheft.gov (FTC)
Report it
FTC: https://reportfraud.ftc.gov
FBI IC3: https://www.ic3.gov
Your state attorney general: https://www.usa.gov/state-attorney-general
Where it stands
Reported losses to job and employment-agency scams rose from $90 million in 2020 to $501 million in 2024 (FTC). Task-scam reports to the FTC: none identified in 2020, about 5,000 in 2023, about 20,000 in the first half of 2024. Reported figures, not total losses: the FTC says most scams are never reported.
Chapters
- 0:00The fake job offer text
- 0:23How the task scam works
- 1:44Task scam: the fake employer
- 2:37Fake job scams: five red flags
- 3:03How to check a recruiter
- 3:18Task scam: what to do
- 3:56Job scams: where it stands
Read the video transcript
A text from a number you don't know. "We're hiring. Rate products online. Earn a few hundred dollars a day." You try it, and the app even shows your earnings.
So if this is a job, why does it eventually ask you to pay? The FTC calls it a task scam. A text, WhatsApp or Telegram message offers quick money for simple, repetitive tasks, like liking videos or rating products. Here's a real one, quoted by a Slate reporter who answered it.
You "earn" a commission per click, in an app. Many people report small payouts at first. Then the app says you have to make a deposit, usually in crypto, to unlock more tasks and get your earnings out. This is the FTC's own data spotlight, published December twelfth, 2024.
The FTC says the commissions are fake. Only the scammers make money. And when you try to cash out, there's always another payment. The FBI says none of those earnings can be cashed out.
So that's the answer: the small payouts are the hook. The deposit is the point. Bonnie Haring, a Pennsylvania grandmother, told CBS News Philadelphia she lost more than two hundred twenty thousand dollars in a few days. The other version looks like a real job: a "recruiter," an interview, an offer.
The FBI says some scammers copy real companies, with look-alike websites, then ask for your ID, your Social Security number, or a fee for training or equipment. The FBI says legitimate companies ask for personal details after hiring. CBS News reported on another job seeker who was offered a job, sent a check, and asked to send a thousand dollars for equipment. The check bounced.
Fraud investigator Jay Jones told Bloomberg that new tools are making fake recruiters more convincing. So what can you check before you hand anything over? One: an offer out of the blue, by text or WhatsApp. Two: you pay to get paid, or to get the job.
Honest employers don't ask. Three: big money for little work. Four: the work is liking or rating things. Five: a check arrives and you're told to send part of it on.
The FTC says never bank on a "cleared" check. Before you trust a recruiter: find the job on the company's own website, reach the company through a number or site you found yourself, and keep your ID and bank details until you're hired. Haven't paid? Stop replying, skip the links, and look the company up yourself.
Paid? Contact the company you used to send the money, report the fraud, and ask to reverse it, if possible. Report it at reportfraud.ftc.gov, ic3.gov, and your state attorney general. Shared your ID or Social Security number?
Go to the FTC's IdentityTheft.gov for a recovery plan. In late 2024, the head of the Identity Theft Resource Center told CBS News job scams were on the rise. Reported losses to job and employment-agency scams rose from ninety million dollars in 2020 to five hundred and one million in 2024. What we don't know is the real total: the FTC says most scams are never reported.
If someone you know is job hunting, send them this. If a job asks you to pay before you get paid, it's not a job. This has been Undercurrent.
Sources
- FTC Data Spotlight (Dec. 12, 2024) Primary recordftc.gov/news-events/data-visualizations/data-spotlight/2024/12/paying-get-paid-gamified-job-scams-drive-record-losses
- FTC Consumer Alert (Aug. 14, 2025) Primary recordconsumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2025/08/how-spot-avoid-task-scams
- FTC, "Job Scams" Primary recordconsumer.ftc.gov/articles/job-scams
- FTC press release on 2024 fraud data (March 2025) Primary recordftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/03/new-ftc-data-show-big-jump-reported-losses-fraud-125-billion-2024
- FBI IC3 PSA I-060424-PSA (June 4, 2024) Primary recordic3.gov/PSA/2024/PSA240604
- FBI IC3 PSA220201 (Feb. 1, 2022) Primary recordic3.gov/PSA/2022/PSA220201
- CBS News Philadelphia, Joshua Sidorowicz (Feb. 16, 2026) Reportingcbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/berks-county-grandmother-loses-220k-task-job-scam/
- CBS News MoneyWatch, Anne Marie D. Lee (Nov. 7, 2024) Reportingcbsnews.com/news/job-scams-how-to-protect-yourself/
- Slate, Alexander Sammon, "My Scammer" (Aug. 4, 2025) Reportingslate.com/technology/2025/08/indeed-job-recruiter-text-message-scam.html
- California Attorney General alert (Apr. 10, 2025) Primary recordoag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-alerts-californians-job-recruitment-scams
- Bloomberg Television, "Fake Jobs Put Job Seekers at Risk of Identity Theft," with fraud investigator Jay Jones (Oct. 3, 2026) Reportingyoutu.be/I591wG6jB9E
- IdentityTheft.gov (FTC) Primary recordidentitytheft.gov
Messages labelled EXAMPLE were written by Undercurrent to show the warning signs. The one labelled RECREATED FROM is a real text quoted by Slate, shown with the real brand name removed. No real company or brand is named as a scammer. General information, not legal or financial advice.
If someone you know is job hunting, send them this.
Spot an error? Email corrections@undercurrentdaily.com. See our corrections policy. Have information about this case? Contact the investigating agency first.
