Over the past three years, nearly 50,000 people have reported employment scams to BBB Scam Tracker. In 2025 alone, those reports surged, more than doubling the number received the previous year.
For years, BBB has tracked reports from job seekers who were persuaded to hand over money or personal information to scammers posing as employers. However, the recent spike in reports highlights a newer tactic proving to be particularly effective.
These scams often begin with a text message from an unknown number claiming to represent a well-known company or platform, such as YouTube. The sender says your resume was recommended through multiple recruiting platforms and offers a remote position as an “optimization specialist.”
The job sounds simple: Boost online engagement by liking videos or completing other basic online tasks. It may seem like an easy way to earn money from home, but that’s where the scam begins.
According to BBB Scam Tracker reports, victims are initially shown earnings accumulating in an online account. When they try to withdraw their money, however, they are told they must first send their own funds to “unlock” the account or release the earnings. Once the payment is made, the scammers disappear with the money.
The number of reported cases likely represents a fraction of the actual total. One study using Federal Trade Commission data found that just 4.8% of mass-market fraud victims report their experiences to BBB or a government agency.
In the new study “Employment scams soar, ‘video boosters’ left unpaid, and education needs are paramount,” BBB’s International Investigations Initiative examines patterns of reports, reviews the amount of money lost and shares stories from those caught up in the scams so consumers can avoid them.
Some of the key findings of the study include:
— Job scams conducted over text messages exploded in 2025, making up half of all reports
— Employment scams are rising, despite extensive public information about this type of fraud
— Median losses have shrunk since 2023 but remain high at $1,000
The most common red flags of an employment scam include:
— Unprompted job offers
— Jobs offered without an interview
— Too-good-to-be-true salaries
— High-pressure offers to take a job immediately
— Interviewers refusing to turn on camera
— Payment to like or subscribe to videos online
— Charges or taxes to withdraw money already earned
— Upfront costs to begin work
Your BBB offers these tips to avoid employment scams:
Do research on companies offering jobs. If someone reaches out to you out of the blue, attempt to find a posting for the job on the company’s official website. If you schedule an interview, call the company at a trusted number to confirm the information.
Never pay money to get your paycheck. No legitimate job will ask you to pay taxes or any other fee to “unlock” funds you have already earned.
Avoid jobs paying you to watch videos, like them or subscribe to a channel. In nearly every case, this will be a scam.
Always use video in an interview if possible. If an employer offers you a job without an interview, be wary.
We also highly encourage you to visit BBB.org to check out a business or register a complaint, use BBB Scam Tracker to check out and report any scams, and visit BBB.org/scamstudies for more on this and other studies that BBB’s Investigative Team has finalized.
To reach BBB’s team serving Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia, please call us at 423-266-6144 or email us tngabbb@chattanooga.bbb.org.
Michele Mason is president of the Better Business Bureau in Chattanooga.