It’s reported Floridians lost more than 9 million dollars to job scams in the last year with Florida ranking second in the nation as scams grow alongside rising unemployment.

• The Federal Trade Commission is warning of a new text scam. It involves fake recruiters offering fake jobs, stealing real money. Here’s how these scams work — and how to avoid them. 

• Targeting Tactics: Scammers are using AI, targeting 400,000 unemployed people in our state.

• Typical Scams: Fake job offers and scams using various employment platforms.

The (fake) recruiters claim to be with legit companies you might know and say they’re hiring for jobs you can do from home like “online assessor” or just simply a “remote position.” They’ll often mention pay (sometimes daily or weekly rates) without any details about the actual job.

And in a new twist, instead of asking you to click a link, they’ll ask you to reply with “YES” or “INTERESTED.” Don’t do this, no matter how “professional” the graphics or message looks and sounds. They want you to engage so they can scam you.

Once they have your attention, they’ll come up with reasons you’ll need to send money. They might say they have a check you need to deposit — and then ask you to send them money back. (Don’t do this — it’s a fake check scam.) Or they might send you online tasks (like giving positive ratings or reviews) to earn money, but eventually they’ll ask you to deposit your own money. (Don’t do this either — it’s a task scam.)

To avoid job scams and fake recruiter scams:

• Ignore generic and unexpected texts, WhatsApp, or Telegram messages about jobs. Real employers will never contact you that way.
• Never pay to get paid or get a job. Legitimate employers will never ask for payment for equipment upfront.
• Don’t trust anyone who says they’ll pay you to give a positive rating or like things online. No honest company will do that.
• Be wary of High Pay/Little Work: If it seems too good to be true, it likely is.

Learn more about spotting and avoiding scams at www.ftc.gov/scams.

Report scams you see to the FTC at www.ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Protect yourself and others. Talk with your loved ones, especially our older family members and friends, about this important topic.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office offers more than a dozen free crime prevention programs, discussing best practices for safety in public and online, and security in general. To schedule one for your community, business, organization or house of worship, please call (239) 477-1CRU (1278) or email us at CRU@sheriffleefl.org.