Here’s how to protect yourself

Task scams are on the rise. According to the FTC, the number of them increased from 5,000 in 2023 to 20,000 in just the first six months of 2024. Scammers apparently managed to rake in $88 million in this time period from innocent victims who thought they’d be able to make some easy money online.

Overall, task scams have accounted for almost 40% of all job scams online in 2024, which means they are, unfortunately, working, with plenty of people apparently ignoring all the red flags. In this post, I’ll guide you through exactly what task scams are and how to protect yourself from them.

Here’s how task scams work: You’ll usually get a message on WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, or a similar messaging app from a person claiming to be the HR at a company that doesn’t exist. They promise you a job you can do from home and will pay you a decent amount of money.

The jobs on offer vary, but they are usually something everyone can do. In my case, I was contacted via Telegram a few months back and offered a job that involved following Instagram pages. I was supposed to like, follow, and react to specific Instagram pages for a daily payout of anywhere between $300 and $800. I played along to see exactly how the scam works and then stalled the process for a bit, which made the person on the other end quite angry.

Once you show interest in the job, you’ll be given a specific task to complete, and once you do, you’ll usually get a little bit of money. These tasks obviously differ based on the made-up job description sent your way, but in my case, I had to follow a specific Instagram page and then send them a screenshot of it via a Telegram message. For this, they promised me a prize of $15.

I stopped communicating with the scammers at this point, but the way this works is that people often get paid for their first task, which builds trust between the person and the scammers. If they paid you $15, the job must be legit, right? Wrong!

Once trust is established, scammers start sending more tasks your way, but at one point, they’ll demand you pay them a certain amount of money to get more tasks or to verify your identity, which a lot of people do. They may also ask for credit card details or any other sensitive data they could get money out of. They usually try to get as much money from you as possible, and once you no longer play along, communication stops, and you’re out of a good chunk of your hard-earned cash.

Common sense is the best protection you can use. If it’s too good to be true, then it likely is. Just think about it: No one is going to pay you up to $800 per day for meaningless tasks like liking pages, leaving a few comments, or watching a couple of videos. It just doesn’t make economic sense.

Also, always be suspicious of messages from strangers, whether they are on messaging apps like WhatsApp or platforms like Reddit. The best course of action is not to reply to them at all, but if you do, never share any personal data with them — especially details relating to your bank accounts, credit cards, and crypto-wallets.

Speaking of crypto, it’s a red flag if they want payment in crypto or are offering it. Crypto wallets are anonymous, so they can’t be traced back to their owner easily, which is why scammers use them instead of regular bank accounts.

The most important thing is to never pay someone in hopes of getting back more money. It just doesn’t make sense. Have you ever been employed at a company where you had to pay them in order to get paid back more? Me neither. So we’re back at common sense I mention at the beginning. Don’t be lured by the promise of easy online money. It’s usually a scam.

Also, don’t give in to pressure. As I already mentioned, I stalled the process a bit when they contacted me, and they got a little bit upset, sending me angry-looking emojis several times. In some cases, more direct threats can happen via messages, which get people scared, and then they follow the scammer’s instructions in order to avoid uncomfortable conversations and possible consequences. No need to be scared — it’s just a tactic to get you to do what they want. Don’t cave, and definitely don’t answer any calls they might make via WhatsApp and other popular messaging apps.

Has anyone ever tried to scam you online, and what was the outcome? Share your story in the comment section below.