(Ton Photograph via Getty)
Scammers are exploiting those looking for remote work by offering fake jobs secretly engineered to defraud consumers, according to the FBI.
In an alert issued Tuesday, the agency warned people to be on alert for unsolicited texts and phone calls. The scams promise job hunters easy remote work, “such as rating restaurants or 'optimizing' a service by repeatedly clicking a button," the FBI says.
“The scammers pose as a legitimate business, such as a staffing or recruiting agency,” the FBI adds. They’ll also design the business to have a convoluted compensation structure, requiring users to make a cryptocurrency payment to earn or “unlock” more work tasks.
But in reality, the cryptocurrency payments are going to scammers' coffers with no reimbursement. "Scammers direct victims to a fake interface, which shows victims are earning money, though none of it is available to them to cash out," the FBI says.
(Credit: PCMag)PCMag encountered one of these scam messages. In our case, we received a text from a number based in Vietnam.
"We've noticed that your background and resume have been recommended by several online recruitment agencies, so we'd like to offer you a part-time job that you can do in your free time,” the message said. “Our job is simple: we simply rate your favorite restaurants.”
The message promised "daily pay ranges from $300 to $600," which can amount to over $10,000 per month. The suspiciously high sum is an immediate red flag, as is the request to reply using WhatsApp rather than an official phone number or website. The text also does not request a resume or references.
The FBI is urging the public to “be cautious of unsolicited job offer messages and avoid clicking on links, downloading files, or opening attachments in these messages.” Users should also avoid sending sensitive financial details or personal information to those promising jobs.