A fast-growing category of fraud

Employment fraud has stopped being a fringe problem. Federal Trade Commission data shows reported losses to job scams climbing from $90 million in 2020 to $131 million in 2021, $179 million in 2022 and $286 million in 2023 — and the first half of 2024 alone accounted for $223 million, putting reports on a pace that more than tripled in four years.

The reason is simple: remote hiring normalized a process in which you can be interviewed, hired, and onboarded without ever meeting anyone or seeing an office. Scammers moved into the gap.

The scams you are most likely to meet

Task scams

The fastest-growing variety, and the FTC's stated driver of record losses. It starts with an unexpected text or WhatsApp message about easy online work — "product boosting," "app optimization," rating images, liking videos. You complete simple tasks in sets, an app shows your earnings climbing, and small early payouts make it feel real. Then you are told you must deposit your own money to unlock the next set of tasks and release your balance. The earnings never existed.

FTC reports of these schemes went from roughly 5,000 in 2023 to about 20,000 in just the first half of 2024, a fourfold jump, with cryptocurrency the dominant payment method — about $41 million in crypto losses in the first half of 2024, against $21 million for all of 2023.

The rule that defeats this entirely: you never pay to get paid.

The fake check overpayment

You are "hired," and before you start, the company mails or deposits a check to buy a home office setup, software, or equipment — from a vendor they specify. You deposit the check, wire the money to the vendor, and days later your bank reverses the check as fraudulent. The money you sent is gone and the overdraft is yours.

Banks make deposited funds available before a check actually clears. Availability is not clearance. No legitimate US employer sends you a check to buy your own equipment through a third party.

Impersonated recruiters

Scammers copy the name and branding of a real company, sometimes cloning a whole careers page. The tells are consistent: the email comes from a free consumer address or a lookalike domain (@amaz0n-careers.com), the interview happens entirely over Telegram, Signal, or Google Chat text, no video and no phone call ever occurs, and you receive an offer within a day or two with no real interview.

Data harvesting

Sometimes the goal is not money but identity. A convincing "onboarding packet" arrives asking for your Social Security number, a scan of your driver's license, and your bank routing details — before any offer letter, or from an employer you have never spoken with by voice.

Legitimate employers do collect this information, but at defined points: the SSN typically at the formal offer or background check stage, banking details for direct deposit after you have signed, and identity documents for Form I-9 on or near your first day, usually through a secure HR system rather than an email attachment.

The red flags, in one list

• You are asked to pay anything — fees, training, equipment, a "starter kit," or crypto deposits.
• You are asked to deposit a check and forward part of it to anyone.
• The offer arrives without a real interview, or after only text chat.
• The recruiter uses a free email address or a domain that is almost, but not quite, the company's.
• The pay is far above market for the work described.
• You are pressured to decide today.
• You are asked for an SSN or bank details before an offer.
• The "company" has no verifiable footprint — no LinkedIn presence for the recruiter, no phone number that answers, no physical address.

How to verify an offer in five minutes

1. Go to the company's own careers page and check that the role exists there. If it does not, the posting is suspect regardless of which board you found it on.

2. Call the company's main published number — the one on their website, not the one in the email — and ask HR whether the recruiter works there.

3. Check the email domain character by character. Lookalike domains rely on you skimming.

4. Search the company name with the word "scam" and check the Better Business Bureau.

5. Insist on a video or phone conversation before sharing any personal information. Refusal is the answer.

Where to report it

• ReportFraud.ftc.gov — the FTC's reporting portal.
• IC3.gov — the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, particularly for money already sent.
• Your state attorney general's consumer protection office.
• The job board where you found the listing, and the real company being impersonated — they usually want to know.

If you sent money, contact your bank or the wire service immediately; speed is the only thing that occasionally recovers funds. If you gave out your SSN, place a fraud alert or a credit freeze with the three credit bureaus.

Search in places that reduce your exposure

Applying through employers' own careers pages and reputable boards cuts your contact with fraudulent listings substantially — see our guide to the best job sites in the US. And keep a document you are comfortable sending widely: a resume with your street address, date of birth, or ID numbers on it is a liability. Our US resume format guide covers what to leave off.

Build a clean, safe resume for free on Monta meu currículo? — no account required, and your data stays on your own device.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much are Americans losing to job scams?

FTC data shows reported losses rising from $90 million in 2020 to $286 million in 2023, with $223 million reported in the first half of 2024 alone.

What is a task scam?

A scheme that starts with an unsolicited message about simple online work, shows fake earnings accumulating in an app, and then requires you to deposit your own money to "unlock" further tasks and withdraw a balance that never existed.

Will a real US employer ever send me a check to buy equipment?

No. The fake check overpayment scam relies on banks making deposited funds available before the check clears. When it bounces, the money you forwarded is unrecoverable.

When should I give an employer my Social Security number?

At the formal offer or background check stage, through a secure HR system — not in an email attachment, and never before you have spoken with a verified person at the company.