There’s a new text scam the FTC is hearing about. It involves fake recruiters offering fake jobs, stealing real money. Here’s how these scams work — and how to avoid them. 

The (fake) recruiters claim to be with legit companies you might know and say they’re hiring for jobs you can do from home like “online assessor” or just simply a “remote position.” They’ll often mention pay (sometimes daily or weekly rates) without any details on the actual job.

And in a new twist, instead of asking you to click a link, they’ll ask you to reply with “YES” or “INTERESTED.” Don’t do this, no matter how “professional” the graphics or message looks and sounds. They want you to engage so they can scam you.

Once they have your attention, they’ll come up with reasons you’ll need to send money. They might say they have a check you need to deposit — and then ask you to send them money back. (Don’t do this — it’s a fake check scam.) Or they might send you online tasks (like giving positive ratings or reviews) to earn money, but eventually they’ll ask you to deposit your own money. (Don’t do this either — it’s a task scam.)

To avoid job scams and fake recruiter scams:

  • Ignore generic and unexpected texts, WhatsApp, or Telegram messages about jobs. Real employers will never contact you that way.
  • Never pay to get paid or get a job. That’s a sure sign of a scam.
  • Don’t trust anyone who says they’ll pay you to give a positive rating or like things online. No honest company will do that.

Learn more about spotting and avoiding scams at ftc.gov/scams. And report scams you see to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

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