The reply says, “Hi, my name is Brianna and I work as a recruiter.” “We need a group of part-time helpers.”
This is the beginning of a text message that a MarketWatch reporter got last week. The “recruiter” then talks about what sounds like a pretty great job: you can work from home, set your own hours, and get paid anywhere from $200 to $1,000 per day. The hiring company Robert Half RHI 0.99% that “Brianna” says she works for is a real one with offices all over the country.
The job she’s talking about doesn’t exist, though.
Almost certainly, the message is a job-related text scam, which has become more popular over the last few years. Recent data from the Identity Theft Resource Centre shows that reports of job scams rose by 118% from 2022 to 2023. And it looks like that number will rise again this year as well.
The president and CEO of the nonprofit, Eva Velasquez, said of the statistics, “That’s scary.” “This is a spot where con artists like to hang out.”
The text talks about a staffing company called Robert Half. The company said it knows that scams are becoming more common in the recruitment business and gives job seekers tips on how to tell if a message they’ve received is fake.
It says on its website that the company will never ask applicants to send materials through instant message services.
Consumer advocates warn that as the U.S. job market gets weaker, frustrated job hunters may be more likely to fall for scammers’ fake job offers and fake recruiting schemes. Scammers are always improving their tricks to get people to give them their information.
Velasquez said, “Now your chances of coming across a fake posting or offer are going to rise because there aren’t as many real ones out there.”
There are more scams than ever.
The Federal Trade Commission says that job and employment agency text scams have cost people about $24 million so far this year. Ben Davidson, an attorney in the FTC’s division of marketing practices, said that texting is one of the most popular ways that scammers get in touch with people.
“Con artists know that people won’t always answer the phone, but they do read text messages,” he said.
The FTC says that so far this year, the average amount of money lost in text scams is $1,000.
As the number of remote jobs has grown, many work-related contacts have moved online. Toni Frana, lead career expert at the remote-jobs site FlexJobs, said that scammers are using this change to get in touch with people in new ways.
Experts say that a slowing job market has also made it easier for con artists to take advantage of desperate job seekers. The jobless rate went up to 4.3% last month, and some jobs, especially white-collar jobs, are becoming harder to find.
Velásquez said, “There are many changes in how we look for work, how we hire people, and how we do our work.” “Whenever there are big changes, con artists will try to get involved and make things more complicated.”
What to look out for in a job scam
This is how a normal job scam starts: You get a text or email message about a possible job opening. The message usually comes from someone who says they work for or are a recruiter for a company. The message could say that you look like a good fit for a job opening and ask if you’d like to know more.
The “recruiter” might ask about your work experience, how much you want to be paid, and other things that sound like normal questions. They often want to change the chat to a different app, like WhatsApp.
They may then start to ask for personal information, like your Social Security number or a picture of your driver’s license. They might say they need to set up direct payment for your pay cheques and ask for your bank information. “They will ask for more personal data about you until you stop giving it to them,” Velasquez said.
People looking for work may also be asked to pay filing or application fees or for fake training by scammers.
If a scammer gets their hands on private information like your Social Security or driver’s license number, they can use it to steal your identity and use it to get loans or open new bank accounts in your name, says the ITRC. If you give them your credit card information, they might use it to make charges without your permission.
There are, however, a few things that job hunters can look out for in these kinds of messages.
Look at the text message that the MarketWatch reporter got: The first sign that something is wrong is that the text message comes from an iCloud address that doesn’t look right and has a username that is just a bunch of letters and numbers. This account is not connected to a real business.
Experts say scammers are more likely to text you from an email address than a phone number because the email address is easier to get.
The pay for this job is another thing that makes people raise their eyebrows. For this “flexible” and “part-time” job, a daily rate of $1,000 adds up to about $20,000 a month, or well over $200,000 a year.
“Anything that seems too good to be true should always be taken with a grain of salt,” Davidson said. If someone texts you out of the blue, doesn’t know who you are or what you’re qualified for, and offers you a huge salary to work from home, that’s definitely not a real text.
The “recruiter” also asks the person to get in touch through WhatsApp, which is another sign that the text is probably fake. Scammers like private chat services because they can hide their tracks better because cell phone companies can filter out or block spam or scam texts.
Even though these things make it clear that this text is a scam, Davidson said that the list of red flags is always changing because scammers are always trying new things.
Experts say that a text can’t have a name or company in it. It could be as easy as a text message from a number you don’t know asking if you’re looking for work.
“There are a lot of different messages,” he said. The people who use text scams are very quick on their feet, and they don’t always send the same message.
How to stay safe from fake job offers
There are more types of job scams than just fake advertising texts. Experts say scammers are also using job sites to post fake openings and contact people who might be interested in the jobs.
Frana told the story of a job seeker who used an employment site to apply for a job. The applicant was told by the “company” that their resume wasn’t in the right style, but that it could be fixed for a fee.
If someone asks you to pay for something as part of the application or interview process, Davidson said you should look into it more. He said, “Real businesses don’t charge fees for jobs.”
People who are looking for work can protect themselves in more ways than just learning what to look out for. If you think something is wrong with the hiring process, you can check the careers part of a company’s website to see if the job you want is listed there. To make sure that a job offering is real, Velasquez suggested calling the company and asking about openings.
You can tell the government about a message you think is a scam at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
And the easiest way to be sure you’re not being scammed is to look more closely and do your research if something doesn’t seem right.
Frana said, “I think anyone looking for a job right now needs to be careful and work hard.” “Scammers will always look for ways to get what they need.”
