Stop and check any job that requires you to pay money to make money. It could be a scam. 

Scammers offer jobs that pay well with low effort. But it’s only the scammer that will make money in the end. Often the job doesn’t exist at all.

Scammers pretend to be hiring on behalf of high-profile companies and online shopping platforms. They also impersonate well-known recruitment agencies. Their goal is to steal your money and identity details.

They often ask for payment so you can start the role and get the income they’ve promised.

Don’t enter any arrangement that asks for up-front payment via bank transfer, PayID or cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin or USDT. It’s rare to get money back that is sent this way.

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Warning signs it might be a scam

  • A recruiter contacts you unexpectedly through text message or encrypted message platforms like WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram.
  • You are told you can earn a high income while working from home and with little effort.
  • The hiring process is quick. There’s no interview or discussion about your qualifications, experience, and references.
  • You are told to top up an account with your own money or cryptocurrency to complete tasks.
  • The job involves transferring money, making purchases, or receiving packages on behalf of someone else.
  • You are required to pay a 'recruitment fee’ or pay for training materials before you begin the job and make any money.

Steps you can take to protect yourself

  • Don’t trust a job ad is real just because it appears on a trusted platform or website – scammers post fake ads too. If you come across a scam, report it in the app where you found it, and to Scamwatch.
  • Never send money or give your personal information, credit card, online bank or cryptocurrency account details to anyone you have only met online, through email or over the phone.
  • Scammers may deceive you by giving you a small payment for completing a job or task. Never send your own money, you won’t get it back.
  • Know who you are dealing with. Contact recruitment agency representatives using phone numbers you have sourced yourself online.

More safeguards

  • Don’t be pressured to act quickly. A legitimate offer won’t require you to make a fast decision. If the offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
  • Don’t take payment or rewards to recruit other people.
  • Be careful about including personal information such as your physical address or date of birth in your resume.
  • Never send your passport or identity documents to an employer or recruitment firm, unless you are certain they are genuine.

Video about jobs and employment scams

There are lots of scams out there and some can be very hard to spot, like scams targeting job seekers who want to work from home.

Maya, she wants to do just that.

The flexibility of working from home will really help her.

Jobs and employment scams can deceive you into handing over money and identity details by offering you a high paying job for little effort.

That's right, they seem legitimate.

In fact, the offer can appear to come from a well-known recruitment agency.

So even when they require you to pay money to make money, they can look genuine.

Be careful, Maya, things are not always what they seem.

Typically, the scammer impersonates a recruiter and gets in touch through a text message or encrypted messaging platform, and they may pretend to be hiring on behalf of high profile companies and online shopping platforms.

No matter how they represent themselves, they say you can earn a high income working from home with no experience.

There are some warning signs to look out for.

The big one is the hiring process for the job is quick.

Maya has already started working.

You won't be asked to do an interview or discuss your qualifications or your experience or even provide references.

You might be asked for an upfront payment to get started with the work via bank transfer,

PayID, or cryptocurrency.

Another approach avoids you having to pay upfront so it appears legitimate.

However, after you start the work, like performing data entry, you're told you need to pay a fee to get your bonus package or in order to unlock higher value work.

Even though you pay, sometimes more than once, you never get the greater amount promised and you won't get to cash out your full earnings.

So never enter into any sort of job arrangement online without really checking who you're dealing with.

First and foremost, don't rush.

Just stop.

Good work, Maya.

A legitimate offer won't require you to make a fast decision.

Never believe a job is real just because it appears on a trusted platform or website because scammers post fake ads too.

It's important that you check who you are really dealing with.

Contact the recruitment agency your recruiter said they work for by using a phone number you've sourced yourself.

Check with someone you trust, a family member or friend for a second opinion.

And search the name of the company with the word scam on your internet browser to see if it's a known scam.

And finally, protect yourself if you think you've been scammed.

Call your bank immediately to stop any further losses, change passwords on all devices and online accounts, cut all contact with the fake company, and report the scam to Scamwatch.

Your report will help us to protect others.

Common job scams

Scammers post fake job ads on social media or impersonate legitimate job sites and recruiters. They often send unsolicited text or WhatsApp messages about fake job opportunities.

These fake jobs usually promise good money for completing easy tasks in just a few hours each day. The scammer will make the job sound attractive by saying that you:

  • can work flexible hours from home
  • don’t need experience or qualifications.

The scammer, posing as your supervisor or mentor, will usually explain the job to you on a messaging app like WhatsApp, Telegram or Signal. They will help you set up a cryptocurrency wallet and create an account on the scam website. You may be asked for personal details such as a Medicare card, driver’s licence, or passport as part of the application process.

You will be given a set of simple repetitive tasks to complete, such as buying or rating products and services or brands. After completing the first round of tasks, you might be paid a small amount of cryptocurrency to convince you that the job is real.

Before long, the scammer will say you need to recharge or top up your cryptocurrency account in order to get your earnings or commission. They might also offer you special tasks with a higher commission. These additional tasks require you to pay more of your own money.

Scammers will tell you that you’ll get this money back once the tasks are complete and the scam website will likely show you that your earnings are increasing. The scammer may add you to a group chat on a platform like WhatsApp where other people who claim to be employees talk about how much they’re making and post screenshots of their earnings. However, the group chat will be filled with scammers and bots.

You will never be able to withdraw your earnings or the money that you’ve paid.

Money mule scams are when criminals use bank accounts to transfer and launder money that is either stolen or used to fund serious crime. They often begin with a job offer using social media, instant messaging platforms, online pop-up ads, and email.

These jobs often have titles like ‘administrator’, ‘assistant’, ‘finance agent’, ‘remote cashier’, or ‘bookkeeper’. Scammers use these job titles to make victims believe that the work they are doing is genuine, but anyone who gets involved is transferring stolen money or funding crimes like drug production, human trafficking and terrorism.

The main part of money mule scams is that victims receive money into a personal bank account and then transfer it into other bank accounts, cryptocurrency wallets or gift cards. Sometimes the victim receives a commission when transferring the money as payment for their services.

Never allow anyone to use your bank account or to move money through your account. Acting as a money mule is a serious crime, even if you don’t know or understand how the money is being used.

Pyramid schemes are illegal and very risky ‘get-rich-quick’ schemes that can end up costing you a lot of money.

You may hear about a pyramid scheme from friends, family or neighbours. Usually, pyramid schemes recruit members at seminars, home meetings, over the phone, by email, post or social media.

In a typical pyramid scheme, you pay big upfront dollars to join. The scheme then relies on you convincing other people to join and to part with their money as well.

For everyone in the scheme to make a profit, there needs to be an endless supply of new members. In reality, the number of people willing to join the scheme, and the amount of money coming into the scheme, dries up very quickly.

Some pyramid scheme promoters disguise their true purpose by introducing products that are overpriced, of poor quality, difficult to sell or of low value. Making money out of recruitment is still their main aim.

The promoters at the top of the pyramid make their money by having people join the scheme. They pocket the fees and other payments made by those who join under them. When the scheme collapses, relationships, friendships and even marriages can be damaged over money stolen by scammers.

It’s against the law to promote or take part in, a pyramid scheme.

Think you’ve been scammed?

  1. Act fast to stop any further losses

    Contact your bank or card provider immediately to report the scam. Ask them to stop any transactions.

    Change passwords on all your devices and online accounts like banking, email, government and shopping.

  2. Get help to recover

    IDCARE is Australia and New Zealand’s national identity and cyber support service. They can help you make a plan (for free) to limit the damage. Call them on 1800 595 160 or visit their website to find out more.

  3. Report the scam

    Once you have secured your details, you can help us try to stop the scam or to warn others by reporting the scam to us.

Find out more about what to do if you've been scammed