Fake job offers and the task scam

Fake job offers have become one of the most common approaches on WhatsApp and Telegram, and they have a particular shape that makes them worth learning.

The task scam

It starts as remote work that sounds slightly odd but plausible: rating products, liking videos, "optimising" listings for a retailer. You are added to a group. You complete simple tasks.

You get paid. A small amount, quickly, really into your account. This is the part that makes it work.

Then the tasks require you to put your own money in first, to unlock a higher commission tier. That money and the commission are shown climbing on a dashboard. When you try to withdraw there is a fee, then a tax, then a compliance hold. Nothing was ever there after the first payment.

The first payment is not proof. It is the cost of the scam, and it is a deliberate investment in your belief.

The fake recruiter

A message about a role you did not apply for, from someone who has your CV — which is normal, CVs circulate. The interview is text-only, or on a platform nobody uses. The offer is generous and comes fast. Then:

• A fee for training, equipment, a background check or a visa.
• A request for your bank details, passport and National Insurance number before any contract.
• A cheque to deposit so you can buy equipment from a specified supplier.

No genuine employer charges you to start work. Not for training, not for a laptop, not for onboarding. If money moves towards the employer before you have worked, it is not a job.

The one with real consequences for you

Some of these roles are money mule recruitment: a payment processing job, or "finance assistant", where money arrives in your account and you forward it on, keeping a percentage.

That money is stolen. Moving it is money laundering, and it is prosecuted whether or not you knew. The realistic outcome is a closed bank account and being refused another for years, which is a severe thing to carry into your twenties.

If someone else's money is passing through your personal account as part of a job, stop, and talk to your bank.

Checking a real one

• Find the company independently. Companies House, their own website, their LinkedIn. Then

contact them through a number you found, not one you were sent.

• Check the recruiter exists at the company they claim. A profile made this year with few

connections is worth a question.

• Look at the email domain. A recruiter at a real firm writes from that firm's domain, not gmail.
• Be suspicious of speed. A job offered without a real interview is not a job offer.

If you have already paid or shared details

Ring your bank. Report to Action Fraud. If you sent identity documents, watch for accounts opened in your name, and consider a CIFAS protective registration. If money passed through your account, tell your bank yourself before they find it — that distinction genuinely matters.