Labor scams are multiplying and costing thousands of victims

If someone offered you a job promising you could make $6,000 a month, but it ended up costing you thousands of dollars, the math on that isn’t so good, is it?

This is what is happening as labor scams continue to grow. The Federal Trade Commission reports that employment fraud now accounts for more than half of all fraud. And those who are hit are hit hard. Victims typically lose about $2,000 each.

Common tactics used by scammers include suspicious contact information, unrealistic salary offers, and misleading job descriptions. Email – which was once the most common method for carrying out these scams – has now given way to text messages and, later, the transfer of the conversation to WhatsApp.

In two recent job scams that ConsumerAffairs analyzed, a person was first pinged via text with a message that began:

(caller) “Hi, I’m Emma from VRBO Hotels

I would like to introduce you to a part-time/full-time job that is a great online job. You can also work from home. …

This job is part-time

It’s time to help optimize data and rankings for the world’s top hotels

• You can work from home or anywhere.
• Working hours (can be freely arranged)
• Age 22-80
• Earn $2,800-6,200 per month.

The work is very simple. If you are interested in this job, can I refer you to (employer) to share more details with you? This way you can better understand the work.”

Who wouldn’t be interested? Working anywhere, at any age and costing up to $6,200 per month is very attractive for anyone.

Travel job scams must be popular because they didn’t stop with VRBO

It was only a few days later and then this from another travel platform, Expedia.

After the target responded that they were interested in learning more about the VRBO and Expedia situations, WhatsApp took action.

“OK, check your SMS or WhatsApp and you will receive a message from the hiring manager (employer) with full details. Thank you for your time,” the text message said.

In an email to ConsumerAffairs, Expedia Group apologized for the incident and said it does not extend job offers via text message, email or any other messaging tool to individuals with whom it has not previously made contact.

“Please never give anyone sensitive personal information unless you are sure who the recipient is,” said a company representative.

Why WhatsApp?

WhatsApp is not a typical cesspool of scams like other social media platforms. Facebook, for example, has a lot of fake ads, fake news, romance scams and market scams.

Scammers liked WhatsApp because WhatsApp’s vast user base and ease of communication streamline their efforts.

The platform’s anonymity allows scammers to easily create fake profiles or use unknown numbers to contact users, making it difficult for victims to verify the sender’s identity. The problem is compounded because many users are unaware of WhatsApp’s security risks, making them vulnerable to scams.

The Emotional Downside of These Job Scams

Just knowing how WhatsApp works in a scammer’s favor can save you from losing hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. But victimization goes much deeper than that.

Oliver Morrisey, attorney at Empower Wills & Estate Lawyers, speaking about a new employment fraud report from Heimdal Security, highlighted the deeper effects of employment fraud, explaining how it can erode a person’s sense of fairness and justice.

According to Morrisey, victims often feel abandoned by regulators and authorities, leaving them with a “persistent sense of injustice”.

“This lack of closure, combined with the emotional fallout, creates long-term psychological scars that can last far beyond the financial damage. For some, it’s not just fraud; it feels like their entire professional reputation and personal trust has been destroyed,” he said.

Stopping WhatsApp scammers in their tracks

WhatsApp is aware of what’s going on and isn’t too crazy about it either. He advises that if you’re asked to interact with a job recruiter — or someone you don’t know — you should follow these steps:

1. Pause and think
   • Keep an eye out for suspicious behavior:
   • Are they using an unknown number?
   • Are they rushing you?
   • Are they threatening or asking you to trust them?
   • Are they asking you to transfer money or share a password, PIN or personal information?
2. Stop the conversation
   • Hang up a call or stop responding to the user. If you are unable to verify the contact’s identity, do not share any personal or financial information.
3. Block and report
   • Block the user to prevent them from contacting you and report them to WhatsApp. Learn how to block and report in this article.
4. Update your privacy and security settings
   • Adjust your privacy settings to control who can see your personal information and contact you. You can also enable two-step verification to better protect your account.