<< Back to Articles

Online remote job scams: an explanation

These scams target the vulnerable, those without jobs or with low mobility, particularly the elderly. They tend to pop up on facebook groups or linkedin under false accounts, with someone posing as a hiring agent for a local firm that does exist in real life. They tend to try and shift the conversation out of messenger as soon as possible, so as to avoid detection and getting their account banned. Generally they'll avoid cellphone networks to avoid tracing, and will stick with whatsapp or similar communication apps to deliver the bait.

Setup is as follows: they want to hire you to do remote, online work for a decent amount of pay per hour. When asked, they'll say they work for a hiring firm in your town (they don't of course). But to get into the work, you have to pay an initial fee to cover, oh, let's say, training or onboarding. The payment will almost always be via credit card, and once paid they disappear into the ether, never to be seen again. Once marked as a susceptible target, an individual will likely to be targeted for future scams.

I came across one of these recently, following through on a facebook post for an unemployed friend to see what the deal was, smelled a rat almost immediately. Clues:

1. They don't write very good english.
2. They write according to a script and do not have the grasp of language or intelligence necessary to lie their way out of challenging questions. Details of the job will be nebulous.
3. They shift the conversation to another platform as soon as possible.
4. They won't make a phone call to talk to you, and may prefer textual communication.

How to proceed if you detect one of these:

1. Report the user to facebook and to the group they posted on (or linkedin if they posted the job there). Get the post removed as soon as possible. Block the user.
2. If you followed through and contacted them on another platform like Whatsapp, report and block the user(s).
3. Report the incident to netsafe.org.nz. This helps them keep track of scams doing the rounds.

If you're unfortunate enough to have lost money as a result of one of these ventures, there's little you can do typically, but contact your bank regardless. As always, stay safe online, and if uncertain about something, ask a more net-savvy relative or friend for their opinion.

- Matt Bentley, computer expert at Bentley Home PC Support.
Email info@homepcsupport.co.nz or phone 0211348576.

Click here to go back to the main page.