Reports of job-related scams to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) more than doubled in 2023 from a year earlier. Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) logged reports of more than 107,000 fraudulent business and job opportunities in 2023, with losses of about $491 million.
Fraudsters use artificial intelligence and social media to target people who are looking for work, and their tactics are increasingly sophisticated. Many of the schemes offer “work from home” opportunities, an old scam that has taken on new life now that more people than ever work remotely. Some scammers go so far as conducting fake 45-minute interviews, according to the FTC.
The perpetrators profit by eliciting personal information that can be used to commit identity theft or by asking victims for up-front payments. Both are red flags, the FTC says. If a recruiter asks for your Social Security or bank account number before providing details about the position, the job offer is a scam. If you are not sure whether an advertised position is legitimate, contact the company through a website or phone number you know is legitimate, not the link that the questionable recruiter provided.
But work scams aren’t the only way fraudsters try to separate you from your money. As in the past, investment swindles, including those involving cryptocurrency, topped the BBB’s ranking of riskiest scams, with victims reporting median losses of $3,800 in 2023.
For the first time, social media was the most common method perpetrators used to contact victims who reported a monetary loss. Social media was often used to perpetrate romance scams, with median losses rising more than 150 percent since 2022. Fraudsters typically hijack photos and information from real people to create fake profiles on online dating sites, which are then used to build relationships with their targets. Some persuade victims to invest in cryptocurrency; others request cash for fictional emergencies. In 2022, nearly 70,000 people reported to the FTC that they lost money to romance scams, with losses totaling $1.3 billion.
Credit-repair and debt-relief scams made the top 10 list for the first time since the BBB launched its Scam Tracker tool in 2016. In a typical scam, victims are told they must pay an upfront fee for a variety of services, including removing negative items from their credit reports or negotiating with credit card companies to eliminate debt.
A request for an upfront fee before services are provided is a big red flag, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) says. Likewise, the CFPB says any business that claims it can remove accurate information on your credit report is fraudulent. Legitimate credit counselors can help you improve your credit, but they won’t promise to wipe away credit-report blemishes that are supposed to be there.
Loan-forgiveness scams are also rising, as outlaws target individuals who are struggling to pay their debts. In March, the FTC sent $1.4 million in refunds to more than more than 27,000 student loan borrowers who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal upfront fees to a bogus outfit that promised to lower their monthly loan payments.
