Task Scams and Fake Job Texts: What to Do If You Paid or Shared Your Info

A stranger texts you, or messages you on WhatsApp, about easy online work: like videos or rate products and earn a commission on each click. Later you’re told to deposit your own money, usually crypto, to unlock your earnings, but there are no commissions and only the scammers make money (FTC). Here’s how task scams and fake job texts work, what to do if you paid or shared your Social Security or bank account number, and where to report it.

What is a task scam?

A task scam, also called a gamified job scam, is a fake job that feels more like an online game than work (FTC). Here’s the usual pattern:

1. An unexpected message. A text, WhatsApp, Telegram or social media message offers online work (FTC), typically with no specifics (FTC).
2. Simple, repetitive “tasks.” Liking videos or rating product images (FTC), or “optimizing” a service by clicking a button over and over (FBI). Buzzwords include “product boosting” and “app optimization” (FTC).
3. Fake earnings. An app or website shows commissions piling up. Tasks often come in sets of 40, and a “double task” pays a bigger commission (FTC). You may get a small payout first, usually $5 to $20, to win your trust (FTC).
4. Pay to unlock. You’re told to deposit your own money, usually crypto, to unlock your next set of tasks and get your earnings out (FTC). The FBI says the pay structure is designed to be confusing, and the payments go straight to the scammer (FBI).
5. Pressure. Hesitate, and you may be added to a group chat where (fake) experienced workers share success stories (FTC).
6. The loss. The deposit doesn’t release your earnings, and your real money is gone (FTC). None of the balance on the screen can be cashed out (FBI).

Reports of task scams took off in 2024 (FTC). About 20,000 people reported one to the FTC in the first half of that year, versus about 5,000 in all of 2023. Crypto is the payment of choice: reported crypto losses to job scams hit about $41 million in the first half of 2024, versus about $21 million in all of 2023 (FTC, December 2024).

Job scam texts: how fake job offers work

Phony job opportunities ranked second on the FTC’s list of top text scams of 2024 (FTC). In April 2026, the FTC warned about fake recruiters who (FTC):

• claim to be with real companies you might know;
• offer work-from-home jobs like “online assessor,” or just “a remote position”;
• mention pay, sometimes a daily or weekly rate, but no details about the job;
• ask you to reply “YES” or “INTERESTED” instead of tapping a link.

Once you reply, they find reasons for you to send money: a check to deposit and partly send back (a fake check scam), or online tasks that end with a deposit of your own money (a task scam) (FTC).

Other fake jobs are after your information. The FTC says what side-gig scammers really want is your bank account number, to steal your money, or your Social Security number, to steal your identity (FTC, February 2026). If you gave personal information thinking it was for payroll, you may now have an identity theft problem (FTC).

Reports to the FTC about job and employment agency scams tripled from 2020 to 2024, and reported losses rose from $90 million to $501 million (FTC, March 2025). In 2025, one in three people who reported losing money to a job or business opportunity scam said it started on social media (FTC, April 2026). That year, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 24,688 employment fraud complaints, with $362.9 million in reported losses (2025 IC3 report).

Red flags: what real employers don’t do

What you’re told	What the FTC and FBI say
A job offer arrives out of the blue by text, WhatsApp or Telegram.	“Real employers will never contact you that way” (FTC).
Deposit money to unlock your pay or your next tasks.	Never pay anyone to get paid. “No legit business would ever do that” (FTC).
Pay for a starter kit, training or a fee first.	Honest employers never ask you to pay to get a job (FTC).
Send the money in crypto.	Being told to pay your employer in crypto is a red flag (FBI). Only scammers demand payment in crypto (FTC).
Get paid to rate or “like” things online.	That’s illegal, and no honest company will do it (FTC).
Deposit our check, then send part of the money on.	No honest employer will ask that. It’s a fake check scam (FTC).
You’re hired. No references needed.	A red flag, the FBI says (FBI).
Accept now or lose the job.	Legit employers give people time to consider an offer (FTC).

How do you know if a job offer is legit?

1. Contact the company yourself. Use a phone number or website you know is real, not the information in the message (FTC).
2. Search the company or recruiter with words like “scam,” “review” or “complaint.” No complaints doesn’t guarantee a company is honest (FTC).
3. Talk to people. Ask current and past workers about their experience, and describe the offer to someone you trust before you accept (FTC).
4. Keep your money and details to yourself. The FBI says never to send money to an alleged employer, and not to send financial or personal information to people making unsolicited job offers (FBI).

Paid a task scam in crypto? What to do now

1. Stop paying. Another deposit won’t get you the earnings on the screen (FTC). “That money isn’t real” (FTC).
2. Contact the company you paid through, right away. For crypto, tell the exchange or crypto ATM operator it was a fraudulent transaction and ask them to reverse it and refund your money. For a bank transfer, payment app or card, report it to that bank, app or card issuer and ask for a refund (FTC). Reach an exchange through its official website or phone number, since scammers pose as exchange employees (FBI). More: Bitcoin ATM scams and bank transfers.
3. Save the evidence. The FBI asks for wallet addresses, the amount and type of crypto, dates and times, and transaction IDs (hashes), plus your chats, the scammer’s names and phone numbers, the websites or apps you used and a timeline (FBI). IC3 doesn’t accept attachments, so keep the originals (IC3).
4. Report it (see below), even without transaction details (FBI).
5. Lock down your accounts. Shared a password? Change it and turn on two-factor authentication. Let someone into your phone or computer? Update your security software, run a scan and delete anything it flags (FTC).

Gave a fake employer your Social Security or bank account number?

Social Security number. If someone used it, report it at IdentityTheft.gov for a recovery plan. If not, or you aren’t sure, follow the steps at IdentityTheft.gov/databreach (FTC). They include (IdentityTheft.gov):

• get your free credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com, which you can check online every week for free;
• freeze your credit at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, which is free (how to freeze your credit);
• review your Social Security work history in a my Social Security account, to see if someone is using your number to work;
• consider locking your number through E-Verify;
• file your taxes early, before a scammer can.

More: I gave a scammer my Social Security number.

Bank account number. Contact your bank at a number you know is real, like the one on your statements. Tell them what happened, close the account and open a new one. Then review your transactions and move automatic payments to the new account (IdentityTheft.gov). More: I gave a scammer my bank account number.

Driver’s license. Shared a photo or the number? Report it to your nearest DMV. The state might flag the number or suggest a duplicate (IdentityTheft.gov).

A check from the “employer.” Don’t send any of that money on. Banks must make deposits available quickly, but a fake check can take weeks to be discovered, and you’d be stuck paying the bank back (FTC). Already deposited it? See I deposited a fake check.

Can I get my money back?

It’s hard with crypto, but ask anyway: the FTC says it’s always worth asking the company you used to send the money if there’s a way to get it back (FTC).

• Crypto payments typically aren’t reversible. You can usually get the money back only if the person you paid sends it back (FTC). Crypto lacks the legal protections of credit and debit cards, but some states have passed laws that might help (FTC).
• Tracing: law enforcement can trace crypto, but may face significant challenges when it moves to exchanges overseas (FBI IC3).
• The “earnings” were never yours: “no matter what the system says you’ve earned, you didn’t” (FTC).

How to report a task scam or job scam

1. FBI: file a complaint at IC3.gov with any transaction details (FBI). Type www.ic3.gov into your browser instead of using a search engine (FBI IC3). Save or print your complaint before you close the page: it’s your only chance to keep a copy (IC3). More: what happens after you file at IC3.
2. FTC: report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The FTC can’t resolve individual reports, but shares them with over 2,000 law enforcers and uses them to bring cases (ReportFraud.ftc.gov).
3. Your state attorney general (FTC). Find your state’s complaint page on this map of attorney general offices.
4. Your phone and messaging app: forward a scam text to 7726 (SPAM), and use the report junk or spam option in the messaging app you use (FTC).
5. 60 or older? The National Elder Fraud Hotline, 833-372-8311, can help you file an IC3 complaint (FBI IC3).

The report-a-scam tool lists official channels by type of scam.

Watch for the follow-up scam

• “Recovery” offers. Scammers buy lists of people who’ve already been scammed, then offer to get the money back for a “retainer fee,” “processing fee” or “administrative charge.” They may claim to be a government agency (even the FTC), a consumer group or a law firm (FTC, August 2026). The FBI says not to pay any service that claims it can recover lost crypto (FBI).
• Requests for your details “to send the refund.” Government agencies and legitimate organizations will never ask for money or financial information in exchange for help getting a refund (FTC).
• Fake FBI or IC3 contacts. IC3 never contacts people directly by phone, email, social media or apps, and never asks for payment to recover lost money (FBI IC3, July 2026).
• Fake exchange support. Scammers pose as exchange employees and claim there’s a problem with your account. Hang up and call the exchange’s official number (FBI).

What varies

• How you paid. Each bank, card issuer, payment app and exchange handles fraud claims its own way.
• Your state. Some states have passed laws that might help people who paid with crypto (FTC).
• Whether your information was used. That decides between an IdentityTheft.gov report with a recovery plan and the protective steps above (FTC).
• How it started. If a friendly chat turned into an investment pitch instead of a job, see pig butchering scams and wrong number texts.