Job-seekers are increasingly falling victim to job scams that promise good pay for easy online tasks, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Reported losses to these scams surged more than threefold from 2020 to 2023, with over $220 million lost in just the first half of 2024. Gamified job scams significantly contribute to this rise, with 20,000 reports in early 2024. Scammers use personalized messages to gain the victim's trust before exploiting them, and only a small percentage of victims report these incidents.
"Reported losses to job scams increased more than threefold from 2020 to 2023. In the first half of 2024, they topped $220 million, according to the FTC."
"Scammers are sophisticated, and they keep changing their tactics," said Kati Daffan, assistant director of the Federal Trade Commission's division of marketing practices.
"Most of the people who end up losing money to a scammer are behaving pretty rationally," said Daffan.
"The scam typically begins with an unexpected text or WhatsApp message from a 'recruiter' offering online work."
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