If a job asks you to deposit cryptocurrency or other money to start work, unlock tasks, fix a balance, or withdraw supposed earnings, walk away. The FBI says no legitimate job requires applicants to deposit their own money to perform tasks, and the FTC’s rule is simple: “Never pay a fee to get a job.” Verify any recruiter through contact details you find independently—not through the links or numbers they send.
How crypto job scams work
In a common task scam, someone posing as a recruiter or company employee offers remote, part-time work after an unsolicited text or social-media message. They may quickly move the conversation to WhatsApp, Telegram, or another private messaging app. The “job” often involves simple, repetitive clicks, ratings, or so-called optimization tasks on a platform controlled by the scammers.
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The platform may display earnings that cannot actually be withdrawn. A scammer might let you withdraw a small amount at first, then demand larger deposits to access another batch of tasks, cover a negative balance, or qualify for a higher commission. When the account is frozen, they may ask for yet another payment, calling it a tax, fee, or unlock charge. Paying more does not release the displayed balance; it increases the loss. The FBI and IC3 describe this pattern in their cryptocurrency job scam guidance and work-from-home scam advisory.
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Not every fake-recruiter scheme uses task deposits. Other employment scams may seek identity or banking details, charge for equipment or placement, or send a fake check and ask you to forward some of the money. A check can appear in your account before the bank discovers it is fraudulent; if it is reversed after you have sent money onward, you may be responsible for the loss. The FTC outlines these variations in its guidance on employment scams, job scams, and cryptocurrency scams.
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Warning signs in a job offer
- An unexpected approach followed by a private-chat move. A text or social-media message by itself does not prove fraud, but a recruiter who promptly pushes you to WhatsApp, Telegram, or another private channel merits independent checks.
- Vague work with unusually simple, repetitive tasks. Be wary of offers centered on clicking, rating, completing batches, or “optimizing” a service, especially when the work and employer are hard to explain.
- Any demand for money or crypto. Deposits, fees, required account balances, and payments to unlock tasks or withdraw wages are decisive red flags. The FBI’s crypto-job scam guidance, the FTC’s cryptocurrency scam guidance, and the IC3’s 2024 advisory all warn against sending money to an alleged employer.
- Hiring that avoids ordinary questions. An interview conducted only by chat, no references, a personal email address, poor spelling, or unusually high pay can all be warning signs. Any one of these is not proof on its own; consider the full picture and verify the employer independently.
- A mismatched identity, domain, or website. Look for misspellings, extra characters, odd subdomains, inconsistent contact details, or a site that cannot be corroborated. A polished website or job-board listing is not proof that the recruiter is genuine; scammers also impersonate companies on recruitment platforms, as the IC3 has warned.
- A check followed by a request to send money onward. Do not use a supposed employer’s check to buy crypto, gift cards, or equipment, or to forward money elsewhere. The deposit may later be reversed.
- Pressure to keep quiet or pay to fix a frozen account. A recruiter who discourages you from contacting your bank or exchange, insists on secrecy, or creates urgency around an account freeze is adding pressure—not proof of a real job.
How to verify a recruiter safely
- Find the company’s official site yourself. Use a web address you already know or another trusted route. Do not rely solely on a link, phone number, or email supplied by the recruiter.
- Confirm the role and recruiter through independent contact details. Contact the company using information from its official site and ask whether the position and person are genuine. The FTC recommends this independent check in its employment scam guidance.
- Compare the email address and listing with the company’s own channels. Check the domain carefully for misspellings, extra characters, unusual subdomains, and contact details that do not match the official careers page. Treat a real-looking listing or site as unverified until the company confirms it.
- Ask normal hiring questions. Request clear duties, compensation, employment terms, and details about the interview and reference process. Be cautious if the recruiter dodges basic questions or demands immediate payment.
- Protect your devices and information. Do not install an unfamiliar app or open unsolicited attachments before verifying the sender. Do not disclose passwords, one-time codes, bank details, or identity documents in response to an unexpected approach.
- Apply the payment test. If you must send crypto or pay a fee to get hired, perform tasks, unlock more work, or withdraw wages, stop. The FBI’s guidance says legitimate jobs do not require applicants to deposit their own money for tasks; the FTC’s advice is: “Never pay a fee to get a job.”
If you already sent money or shared information
- Stop paying. Do not send another payment labeled a tax, withdrawal charge, account unlock, or recovery fee. The FBI warns that services claiming they can recover stolen cryptocurrency may themselves be scams.
- Contact the service you used promptly. Call your bank, exchange, wallet provider, or payment company using its official contact channel. Ask whether the transaction can be stopped, reported, or reversed; recovery is not guaranteed. The FTC explains reporting and next steps in its job scam guidance.
- Preserve evidence and report the incident. Save the recruiter’s name, email, phone number, profile, messages, website and app addresses, payment records, cryptocurrency type and amount, dates, wallet addresses, and transaction hash. Report it to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) and the FTC. The FBI asks victims to report even if they do not have every transaction detail.
- Secure affected accounts. If you disclosed a password or authentication information, change it through the legitimate service’s official website or app and contact its support channel. Change reused passwords on other accounts as well.
- Avoid alerting the suspected scammers if it could compromise an investigation. The FBI specifically advises victims not to tell the criminals that they are reporting them to the FBI.
What reported losses show—and do not show
In a December 2024 data spotlight, the FTC said consumers reported about $41 million in cryptocurrency losses to job scams during the first half of 2024, compared with about $21 million across all of 2023. These are FTC Consumer Sentinel Network reports, not a count of every incident or a measure of all losses. The FTC also reported that task-scam reports rose from zero in 2020 to 5,000 in 2023 and about 20,000 in the first half of 2024; at the time, it estimated task scams represented nearly 40% of 2024 job-scam reports. These are historical agency figures tied to those periods and classifications, not a current estimate. See the FTC’s December 2024 data spotlight.
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