It’s that time of year y’all. And it crept up on all of us before we all knew it.
You know… where you start thinking about all the things that you need to pay for between now and the new year. That includes the gifts, the holiday parties, the outfits, the meals. It almost seems never-ending! So if you’ve been doom-scrolling through job boards lately, whether because you’ve been recently laid off, need some additional income, or simply because your bank account has been looking a little too light lately, you’re not alone (can I get an amen?).
The bottom line is that between inflation making everything cost more, and layoffs continuing to shake up the job market, a lot of us are desperately searching for ways to bring in extra income. Especially as the holidays approach and expenses pile up.
And that financial desperation that many of us are experiencing? Well… scammers know all about it. And unfortunately, they’re counting on it in order to hit your pockets.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, job scam reports have tripled between 2020 and 2024 and reported losses jumped from $90 million to over $501 million in that time. In the first six months of 2024 alone, people lost over $220 million to job scams. And because the holidays are peak hiring season, it also means it’s also peak scamming season.
“Task scams” are the biggest culprit this season, and though they may sound innocent enough (all you have to do is rate product images, like videos, or do some “app optimization”), they’re emptying bank accounts and stealing identities left and right. And the crazy part about it is these scams basically didn’t even exist in 2020, and now there’s nearly 20,000 reports of them, making up almost 40 percent of all job scam complaints.
Here’s how it usually happens: You get a random text or WhatsApp. Something like “Are you interested in making money?” or “Remote positions available.” You respond because you probably didn’t know any better (I’d hope not, at least), and then they tell you the work is simple. They might even send you a $25 ‘starter payment’ on Venmo or Cash App to make it feel official. But then—and this is where it gets you—they ask for money upfront for things like training materials, software, commission fees, etc. Some of them are slick enough now to ask for cryptocurrency, which is basically impossible to trace once it leaves your wallet.
The FTC has laid out pretty clear red flags. Real employers will never contact you through unsolicited texts or WhatsApp. They won’t ask you to pay money to get a job. So if someone’s promising you thousands a month for basically nothing, that’s another immediate dealbreaker. And if a job offer sounds like it’s promising Beyoncé money for beginner-level work? Yeah… go ahead and close that tab sis.
And some of these operations have gotten sophisticated enough to fool the most cautious. They’re pulling your information straight from LinkedIn, using fake video interviews with company logos they stole off the internet and they’re even creating entire fake onboarding portals where they ask for your Social Security number, your bank account details, everything. Some of them even send checks that clear initially but then bounce weeks later, after you’ve already wired them money somewhere else. By the time you realize what happened, your money is gone.
So what do you actually do if you’re out here job hunting right now? The FTC recommends reaching out directly to any company that contacts you first—but use contact info you find yourself, not what they gave you. Google the company name plus “scam” and see what comes up. Talk to someone you trust about any suspicious job offers before you commit to anything. Scammers rush you on purpose because they know the second you slow down and actually think about it, you’re going to catch on.
The biggest rule of thumb? Real employers are not asking you to pay to work there. Period. Not for training, not for equipment, not for anything. So if someone’s asking for money, they’re scamming you.
If you do run into one of these scams, report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. It helps them build cases and it warns other people who might get targeted. Because right now there’s a lot of us looking for work, and there’s a lot of people trying to take advantage of that. Don’t let them.