Researchers at Bitdefender warn that scammers are tricking victims with fake remote job opportunities. In this case, the scammers tell victims that they’ll get paid for liking YouTube videos.
Notably, the scammers send the victims a small amount of money (around six dollars) to gain their trust. After this, the victim is invited to a Telegram channel, where the scammer offers to give them much higher-paying tasks if they pay an entry fee of between $21 and $1,083.
Nicolae Postolachi, Manager at Bitdefender’s Cyber Threat Intelligence Lab, stated, “This is not the first time the scammers have tried to pitch this type of scam to consumers in search for extra income. What makes this campaign different from previous iterations is that victims actually get paid something, a highly successful tactic that earns their trust, and plays an important role in convincing the users to ‘invest’ in becoming VIP members that will help them earn even more easy money on simple tasks such as liking videos on YouTube.”
Bitdefender offers some tips to help users avoid falling for phony job postings:
- “Research the job listing and company to ensure that it is legitimate."
- “Never share your bank details or other personally identifiable information with strangers. Even if the scammers make a small payment to you and then you figure out it’s a scam, they now have your contact info, name and other details that can be used in future schemes in an attempt to defraud you."
- “Never pay upfront to receive a job opportunity: a legitimate business will never ask you to pay your own money to receive a job. Anyone who asks you too is a scammer."
- “Never trust job offers that sound too good to be true. A high-paying job for very little work or small expenses on your part is a huge red flag."
- “Report and block the number. Do not engage in further communication with the individual.”
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