Gamification of text scams skyrocketed in 2024, helping consumers lose hundreds of millions of dollars to schemes they thought would get paid instead, according to data from the Federal Trade Commission.
Over the past four years, the agency has been tracking a new type of scam in which scammers send text messages to victims offering compensation in exchange for completing a series of simple online tasks. The first task and reward are designed to hook the victim, then the scammer asks for a deposit before sending the next batch of jobs, but surprisingly, it never comes.
In 2020, the FTC received no reports of these so-called task scams. Reports started trickling in over the next few years, reaching about 500 in 2021, 1,000 in 2022, and 5,000 in 2023. However, this year, the task fraud industry has exploded. In the first half of 2024, the FTC received more than 20,000 complaints.
agency said Consumers reported losing approximately $223 million to fake job schemes in the first half of 2024, with text-based scams accounting for nearly 40% of those losses. By comparison, in 2020, consumers reported just $90 million in losses due to all types of job fraud.
According to the FTC, task scams typically begin with a text or WhatsApp message about an ambiguous job opportunity from an obscure sender. When recipients respond, they are told that they can receive payment in exchange for performing tasks related to “optimizing your app” or “enhancing your product.”
This plan may seem particularly appealing in a world where people actually make money doing microscopic tasks like labeling AI training data. Some victims told the FTC that they were fooled into thinking they had found legitimate work because they actually received compensation at the beginning of the scheme. .
However, once the victim is hooked, the sender will request a deposit before sending the next set of tasks, which will likely come with an even larger reward. According to the FTC, scammers typically request these payments in cryptocurrency.
To avoid falling victim to task scams, the FTC recommends ignoring unexpected texts or WhatsApp messages about job opportunities, especially offers to pay in exchange for online likes. Additionally, consumers should never pay someone as a prerequisite for receiving compensation for their work.
“Anyone asking you to pay to receive money you thought you earned is a sure sign of a scam,” the agency said. “Legitimate companies would never do that.”
