Active scam wavejob / task smishing text scam · verified active as of September 30, 2026

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Job & task text scam: “earn $200/day liking videos”?

Q: What are the red flags of the Task / “easy money” job text scam?

An unsolicited “job offer” by text: A recruiter messaging you out of nowhere about easy remote work — with no application, interview or company you recognise — is the opening move, not a real opportunity. Getting paid to do trivial “tasks”: “Like videos”, “rate products”, “complete orders” or “boost apps” for money is the core of the task scam — the work is meaningless; the trust it builds is the point. You have to deposit your own money: Being told to top up with crypto to “unlock” higher-paying tasks or release your balance is the scam itself — real jobs never ask you to pay to get paid. A fake balance that keeps climbing: The dashboard shows growing earnings and commissions, but withdrawing always requires one more deposit or “tax” — because the balance was never real. Pressure to recruit or act fast: “Complete this set in the next hour” or “invite friends for a bonus” is urgency and referral bait designed to extract more before you catch on.

Texts offering a flexible online “job” doing simple tasks — rating products, liking videos, boosting apps — are one of the fastest-growing scams. Here’s the tell, and a free link check.

What’s happening

Unsolicited texts dangling a flexible, work-from-home “job” — doing simple repetitive tasks like rating products, liking videos, “optimising” apps or completing “orders” — are one of the fastest-growing scams in the country. The FTC has flagged task scams as a surging category, often opening with a vague “Are you looking for a part-time job?” from a recruiter you never contacted.

You’re added to a chat or a slick “platform” and paid a small amount early on to build trust. Then the hook: to unlock higher-paying “task sets” or withdraw your balance, you’re told to deposit your own money — usually in cryptocurrency. The balance and commissions on the screen are fake; every deposit goes straight to the scammers and the withdrawal never comes.

No real employer pays you to like videos, and no legitimate job asks you to deposit your own money to get paid. If a “recruiter” texted you a platform link out of the blue, don’t deposit a cent — paste the link for an instant risk score first.

What a real message looks like: No real employer recruits you by surprise text or pays you to like videos — and a legitimate job never asks you to deposit your own money to get paid.

5 red flags of the Task / “easy money” job text scam

If the message you got shows any of these, treat it as a scam. Not sure about the link? Paste it above and our report grades every signal and tells you exactly what it found.

1. An unsolicited “job offer” by text

A recruiter messaging you out of nowhere about easy remote work — with no application, interview or company you recognise — is the opening move, not a real opportunity.

2. Getting paid to do trivial “tasks”

“Like videos”, “rate products”, “complete orders” or “boost apps” for money is the core of the task scam — the work is meaningless; the trust it builds is the point.

3. You have to deposit your own money

Being told to top up with crypto to “unlock” higher-paying tasks or release your balance is the scam itself — real jobs never ask you to pay to get paid.

4. A fake balance that keeps climbing

The dashboard shows growing earnings and commissions, but withdrawing always requires one more deposit or “tax” — because the balance was never real.

5. Pressure to recruit or act fast

“Complete this set in the next hour” or “invite friends for a bonus” is urgency and referral bait designed to extract more before you catch on.

Paste the link to check it now — free

We check the link and hand you an intelligence report — we don’t recover funds, execute takedowns, or give legal advice.

What to do right now

1Don’t deposit anything — if a recruiter sent you a platform or app link, paste it into Scam Detective for an instant risk score first.

2Stop the chat and never pay to “unlock tasks” or withdraw — only apply for jobs through companies you contacted and sites you looked up yourself.

3Report it to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov and the FBI at ic3.gov, then block and delete the contact.

How to spot the fake link

The “platform” isn’t a known employer or job board — it’s a brand-new or look-alike domain you only heard of from the text.

Cheap endings like .top, .vip, .cc, .icu or .shop, or an app you were told to sideload outside the official stores.

Words like “task”, “mall”, “boost”, “rating”, “VIP” or “rewards” bolted into the domain name.

You reached the site only through a recruiter’s texted link or a chat group, never by searching for the company yourself.

Not sure? You don’t have to eyeball it — paste the link above for a free 0–100 risk score, then unlock the full report with all five red flags and your 3-step plan for $4.99.

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