Fake job and “task” scams on WhatsApp and Telegram: how they work, the warning signs and what to do if you paid

1. An unexpected message. A text or WhatsApp message offers online work with no specific details. Recruiters often claim to be from a staffing or recruiting firm.
2. Simple, repetitive tasks. Liking videos, rating restaurants or product images, or “optimising” an app by clicking a button — often sold with words like “product boosting” and done in sets, sometimes of forty.
3. Early payouts. Small payments arrive to make the platform look real.
4. The pivot. You are told to deposit money to unlock the next set of tasks or to withdraw your earnings. The pay structure is deliberately confusing, and the earnings shown in the app can never be cashed out.
5. Pressure. If you hesitate, you may be added to a group chat full of “success stories” urging you to keep paying. Cryptocurrency is the most common payment method.

The FTC notes that most fraud is never reported, so the real harm is likely much larger.

• You were contacted out of the blue, with no application and no interview.
• The job is vague — “optimisation”, “boosting”, “rating”, “data entry” — and pays well for very little.
• You must “recharge”, “top up” or deposit money to keep working or to withdraw.
• Payment goes in cryptocurrency, to an “employer”.
• Your earnings exist only on a website or app you can’t withdraw from.
• The firm’s name belongs to a real company, but the contact came from a personal number or a messaging app. Check the company’s official website yourself.

• Upfront fees for training, starter kits, certification or guaranteed placement. Honest employers — including governments — never ask you to pay to get a job.
• Fake cheques: you deposit a cheque, keep part and send the rest on. The cheque bounces and you owe the bank the full amount.
• Reshipping: you receive and forward parcels, often bought with stolen cards.
• “Mystery shopping” that ends with you sending money back after a deposit.

1. Stop. There is no “last fee” that releases the balance.
2. Contact the company you paid through — bank, payment app or crypto exchange — and ask whether the payment can be stopped or reversed.
3. Keep the evidence: chats, usernames, phone numbers, website addresses, wallet addresses, amounts, dates and transaction IDs, which the FBI asks victims to include.
4. Report it — in the US to the FBI’s IC3 and ReportFraud.ftc.gov; elsewhere see where to report online fraud by country. Block and report the accounts in WhatsApp or Telegram.
5. If you sent ID documents or bank details, watch your accounts closely and follow the steps in data breach: the first hour.
6. Ignore offers to recover your money for a fee — they are a second scam. See recovery scams.