Spotting a fake job scam text might seem easy, but don't be fooled! Scammers target unsuspecting job seekers with tempting offers from companies like Temu or Target—offers that are too good to be true. Learn how to protect yourself from these increasingly sophisticated job scams, costing consumers millions annually. Don't become a victim; discover how to identify and avoid text message job scams
Text message scams surged in 2024, costing consumers $470 million—five times the 2020 losses, according to the FTC. While fake delivery notifications topped the list, deceptive job offers via text ranked second, with scammers posing as recruiters from reputable companies or promising lucrative work-from-home opportunities. This alarming rise reflects increased vulnerability and sophisticated scamming techniques
FTC attorney Kati Daffan reports a dramatic rise in both text and job scams. Job scam losses more than tripled between 2020 and 2023, highlighting the escalating threat of online employment fraud. This surge coincides with economic uncertainty and increased remote work opportunities, creating a fertile ground for sophisticated AI-powered scams
Job scams are surging, fueled by a tough job market, financial anxieties, and the rise of remote work. Sophisticated AI tools now make creating realistic scam texts easier than ever, increasing the risk for unsuspecting job seekers. Protect yourself from these increasingly convincing employment hoaxes
Economic uncertainty fuels a rise in job scam victims. With unemployment rising and financial anxieties increasing, even sophisticated individuals are vulnerable to convincing employment scams via text message. Cybersecurity experts warn of a surge in job scam attempts, exploiting people's need for work and leveraging AI-powered sophistication. The FTC reports a massive increase in financial losses from text scams, with job offer scams ranking second only to fake package delivery schemes. Learn how to protect yourself from these increasingly prevalent and convincing online employment frauds
Beware of job scam texts! These fraudulent messages offer enticing, unrealistic work opportunities—high salaries for minimal online work—often via suspicious numbers or email addresses. Red flags include entirely text-based interviews, cryptocurrency payments, or upfront payments from you. Learn how to spot and avoid these increasingly common scams costing millions annually
Job scams surged in 2023, surprising even experts at the Identity Theft Resource Center. CEO Eva Velasquez explains these lucrative schemes steal not only personal data but also money. While seemingly obvious, these text message scams continue to thrive, exploiting vulnerable job seekers. The FTC reports a massive increase in losses from job scams, highlighting the urgent need for awareness and caution
Scammers get people to hand over personal information that would be par for the course for a legit hiring process — Social Security numbers, pictures of their driver’s licenses and passports, bank account numbers. That information can be used to try to steal people’s identities and for other nefarious ends. And for someone who really wants a new job, the mundanity of the requests can be deceiving. “That I think is why it’s confusing to people is when you have a legitimate offer and you do start with an employer, they do need that information,” Velasquez says.
Beware of Job Scams: Don't Fall for the Check-and-Refund Trick! Job scammers often send fake checks, exceeding equipment costs, then request the "overpayment" back. Once the bounced check is discovered, victims lose money spent on equipment and potentially face legal trouble for depositing a fraudulent check. This scam also involves purchasing gift cards or paying fake vendors. Learn to identify and avoid these common employment scams to protect your finances
FTC warns of surge in online task scams. Beware of texts promising easy money for liking videos or rating products; these "product boosting" or "app optimization" jobs are designed to trick you into paying money, ultimately leading to financial losses. Don't fall victim to this common text message scam
While you might think you'd never fall victim to a text scam, the truth is, everyone is vulnerable. Learn how to protect yourself from increasingly sophisticated job scams and other text message fraud targeting job seekers and costing consumers millions
Job scam texts exploit social engineering, using compelling messages to create excitement and a sense of opportunity, making victims feel they're part of something special and risk losing a great job offer. This manipulative tactic fuels the rise of employment scams, preying on vulnerable job seekers
Job scam texts: No one is immune. Forget the image of an elderly person falling for a Publishers Clearing House scam—today's text message job scams target everyone, especially young people seeking remote work. With reported losses exceeding $470 million in 2024, these sophisticated scams exploit financial anxieties and the rise of remote work. Learn how to protect yourself from this growing threat
Gen Z and Millennials conduct most life transactions online, from booking travel to paying bills. This digital-first lifestyle makes them vulnerable to sophisticated text scams, including fake job offers. With the rise of remote work and financial anxieties, these increasingly realistic scams targeting employment opportunities are on the rise, resulting in significant financial losses
Generational differences in how we perceive communication impact vulnerability to text scams. While Gen Xers may find serious business conducted solely via text suspicious, younger generations often rely heavily on texting, making them potentially more susceptible to convincing job scams. This highlights the evolving nature of text message fraud and the importance of scam awareness across all age groups
Younger people are more accustomed to the idea of side hustles. They’re in the hunt for extra cash, especially if they can earn it with little effort online, and “like these videos for money” may not seem that abnormal to them in a world where “post videos on TikTok for money” is an aspired-to reality.
Gen Z also faces an especially tough job market. Between tech layoffs and federal government job cuts, many avenues they may have pursued have dried up. Companies aren’t hiring the way they were a few years ago, and people with jobs aren’t quitting. That can specifically affect younger people looking to get a foot in the door — if nobody’s going out, they can’t get in. The result: a generation that’s extra prone to falling into scams offering jobs and side-hustle cash.
“You look at the Gen Zs and the younger millennials and they just click, click, click, click, click, click,” says Alex Quilici, the CEO of YouMail, a service that helps block scam texts and calls.
As I reported this story, I became increasingly alarmed about job scam texts. If the labor market is worsening, meaning more people are going to fall for this stuff, shouldn’t we be doing more to stop it? On the list of a million worries, I’d really rather not add “my niece got bamboozled out of $1,000 because of some click farm scam” to the list. It turns out that doing something about this is hard.
When I ask Kate Griffin, with the Aspen Institute’s Financial Security Program, who’s responsible for clamping down on scam texts, she tells me, “That’s the problem.” It’s sort of everyone’s job, which also means it’s sort of no one’s job.
“A lot of people have a component part of it,” she says. “There’s a part of the FBI that goes after this. There’s a part of the Treasury Department that is focused on the anti-money-laundering part of it. The FTC, of course, holds their component of it, but there’s not a single coordinating entity to say, ‘What is our national approach to fighting this?'”
As far as how the private sector can combat this, it’s complicated, too. Griffin explains that while telecommunications companies are the infrastructure layer, they don’t necessarily have the ability to know what’s inside messages. She notes that CTIA, a trade association that represents the wireless industry, has a “secure messaging initiative” whose goal is to put a stop to unwanted or illegal text messages.
Besides its app that lets consumers block unwanted communications from spammers and scammers, Quilici’s YouMail also collects data to alert phone carriers of scams and bad actors. Still, it’s hard for companies to get their arms around the problem — scammers are savvy, and the business incentives to crack down on them aren’t particularly compelling.
“If you wanted to try to stop it, you’d have to make it really, really difficult for anybody to get a phone number,” Quilici says.
Texting and calling cost next to nothing. Making communications more expensive would make scamming less lucrative, but it would also make basic functions pricier for everyone else. Companies (or the government) could implement know-your-customer laws, as banks have, so carriers have to know whom they’re giving a number to, but that would be onerous, too.
“There’s a big tension between their desire to sell services and quickly and stopping fraud,” Quilici says. “I don’t view the carriers as bad guys. I view them as having a business problem.”
The unwillingness of the government and phone carriers to make a concerted effort against scam texts puts a lot of onus on individual consumers to try to protect themselves, which is not an easy task. A lot of these scams look realistic — ChatGPT makes it easier to write a scam, meaning the grammar mistakes that might have set off some spidey senses are less likely to appear. These scams don’t just take place via text; they can also come in emails or even in social media messages on platforms such as LinkedIn, where contact from a recruiter would seem quite normal. And they often invoke big-name companies that people would like to work for, which may increase the likelihood that someone falls for a trick.
What’s one to do in this scenario? First, scrutinize where the text came from. (Is it a weird email address or a foreign phone number? Though scammers can make those look plausible, too.) Next, do a deep reading of the message itself, checking whether the grammar is right and whether the offer seems too good to be true. A six-figure job for clicking boxes on an app sounds lovely, but it’s also not a thing that exists. Mention of pay in crypto is a red flag, as are interviews via text. If the alleged employer asks you for money, that’s a no-no. As a general rule, you shouldn’t have to pay money to make money.
“Our advice is never click on links or respond to unexpected texts or WhatsApp messages or other messages about jobs. Real employers will never contact you that way,” Daffan says. She asks people to report fraud to the FTC.
If you do think a job offer could be legitimate, see whether you can find the listing online — and make sure it’s real and matches on details such as salary and location. People can also just contact the prospective employer directly to find out if it is a fake. And if you do get scammed out of money, contact your bank immediately and try to get the money back.
Ultimately, Quilici says, the best advice is to slow down. There’s no need to respond to that job offer text right away. Larson echoes the point. “If they’re trying to rush you, they’re trying to hire you, and they ask to be paid for something, that’s all red flags,” she says. Anyone who’s interviewed for a job lately knows that the process can drag on for a wildly long time.
Overall, the good news is that as time goes on and more people learn about scams, the more we collectively become inoculated to different tactics and hoaxes. People were highly susceptible to email scams when they first got email addresses. Now, you still hear about them, but they’re a lot less common, and most people have an easier time spotting them.
In the meantime, the bad news is that a tougher labor market means we may not have time for this natural collective education to happen. When people are anxious about money and work, they’re likelier to have blind spots that scammers know how to exploit. If you’re on month five of the job search and worried about how you’re going to pay rent, you’ll probably reply to that text faster than you would under normal circumstances.
“One of the reasons that job scams are flourishing is that many people do want to work extra and make extra income, and they’re looking for an opportunity to do that,” Daffan says. “And scammers know that, and so they know there’s a big market out there if they can have a convincing job scam. And, unfortunately, that is the case.”
Emily Stewart is a senior correspondent at Business Insider, writing about business and the economy.
Business Insider’s Discourse stories provide perspectives on the day’s most pressing issues, informed by analysis, reporting, and expertise.
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