Job scams: how to spot and report them

Updated November 2026

A job scam is a fake job offer designed to take your money, your personal information, or both. Reported losses to job scams in the US more than tripled from $90 million in 2020 to $286 million in 2023, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Almost every one of them breaks one rule: a real employer never asks you to pay to get a job or to get paid.

The most common job scams

Fake check scams

The "employer" sends you a check, often for home-office equipment or supplies, and asks you to deposit it and send part of the money back, to a "vendor," or as gift cards. The check is fake. Banks must make deposited funds available quickly, but it can take weeks to discover a check is counterfeit. By then the money you sent is gone, and you have to repay the bank. Seeing the money in your account does not mean the check is good.

Upfront fees

You are asked to pay for training, a starter kit, a certification, a background check, equipment, or a "guaranteed" placement, often with a promise of reimbursement in your first paycheck. Honest employers do not charge for these, and honest placement firms are usually paid by the hiring company, not by you. Ads offering federal or Postal Service jobs for a fee are scams: applying for those jobs is always free.

Fake recruiters and copied job ads

Scammers pose as recruiters for well-known companies, often by text, personal email (Gmail, Yahoo) or messaging apps. Some copy old ads from real employers and repost them on job boards, or build lookalike websites with a slightly different domain name. They "interview" you by text, make a fast offer, and then ask for your Social Security number, a copy of your driver's license, and bank details "for payroll," or for a payment. In April 2026 the FTC warned about texts that ask you simply to reply "YES" or "INTERESTED" to a vague remote job. Do not reply.

Reshipping scams

The job is to receive packages at home, repackage them and ship them on, often overseas. The goods were usually bought with stolen credit cards. The FTC is blunt: reshipping goods is never a real job. Victims often find the company has disappeared before the first paycheck arrives.

Task scams

Also called gamified job scams. An unexpected message offers pay for simple online tasks such as rating products or "boosting" apps, with a dashboard that shows growing "commissions." You may be paid $5 to $20 at first to gain your trust. Then you are told to deposit your own money, usually in cryptocurrency, to unlock more tasks or withdraw your earnings. The earnings never existed. The FTC received about 20,000 task scam reports in the first half of 2024, compared with about 5,000 in all of 2023.

Other variations

Mystery shopper, nanny, caregiver and virtual assistant offers often end in the fake check routine. Reselling schemes ask you to buy "discounted" luxury goods that never arrive. The FBI also warns that some overseas job ads with vague details, unusually high pay and free travel are lures for labor trafficking at scam compounds.

Warning signs

How to protect yourself

  1. Search the company name alone, then with "scam," "review" or "complaint." Several websites for one company (for example, a name with and without "llc") can point to a fake.
  2. Find the job on the employer's official site, or call the company on a number you looked up yourself.
  3. Never deposit a check from an employer you have not verified, and never send money back.
  4. Give payroll and bank details only after you have been hired by an employer you have checked.
  5. Never pay by gift card, wire transfer or cryptocurrency. Money sent that way is almost impossible to recover.
  6. Talk to someone you trust before accepting an offer.

How to report a job scam

Federal Trade Commission
Report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. This is where the FTC asks people to report job scams.
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
File at ic3.gov, especially if you lost money online. Include transaction details. IC3 never contacts you directly to ask for information or money, and it does not work with private "recovery" firms.
The job board and the real company
Report the fake posting to the site where you found it, and tell the company whose name was used.
Your state attorney general
The FTC also suggests reporting the scam to your state attorney general's consumer protection office.

If you already paid or shared information

Be wary of anyone who later contacts you offering to recover your lost money for a fee. IC3 itself does not work with private recovery services.

Sources