Remote contract workers share their red flags for sorting through scams
Remote job scams are on the rise as more people seek flexible work options.
Scammers often exploit inexperienced job seekers by masquerading as appealing offers.
Experts told BI that caution, careful research, and networking can help you avoid falling for scams.
Portia Moore had already been working from home for five years before the COVID pandemic made flexible schedules popular. She said sifting through scams has always come with the job.
"I got spoiled, working from home," Moore, who runs a job board that lists remote gig work that she vets, said. "Back in 2015, 2017 — it was before remote jobs were very popular. So, I kind of really learned how to find legit remote jobs that weren't scams because scams were everywhere."
They're even more prevalent now, Moore added, since "everybody's going after remote jobs."
More and more Americans are taking on extra work to cope with the rising cost of living. Communities have emerged on sites like TikTok, dedicated entirely to finding legit, lucrative side hustles. Gig remote work — such as copywriting, data entry, and one-off jobs on sites like Fiverr — often offers attractive rates of pay and flexible hours. It is enjoying a resulting boom in popularity.
Jackie Mitchell, who gained traction on TikTok for documenting her goal of making $100 a day through side hustles, said scams often advertise themselves similarly to legitimate remote jobs, luring in searchers with less experience spotting clear red flags. In particular, those in dire financial straits searching for a temporary stopgap are most vulnerable.
"I feel like the side hustle culture kind of becomes — while I need to have second streams of income at this time in my life — I think the mantra now becomes that everyone should, because why wouldn't you want more money?" Mitchell said. "And I think that becomes dangerous."
For her part, Moore has also seen plenty of scammers try to prey on her audience — and says it fits the typical pattern of bad actors aligning themselves with a legitimate brand in order to build trust.
"I just had a TikTok go viral over the weekend, and there's so many scammers in the comments saying, 'Hey, I hire data entry for $40 an hour,'" Moore said. "And I'm like, 'No, guys. That's not real.' So it's mostly people who'll say a legit, popular job title, like data entry."
Many will pretend to be real, big-name companies, Moore said — and with the advent of AI tools, she's seen the phishing websites people are redirected to become harder to distinguish for the genuine article. She's developed a series of red flags she keeps in mind when searching for listings to add to her site.
"If you're getting asked for money, that's a huge red flag," Moore said."It's a job. You shouldn't be paying. If you go to a website and something looks off, or — and I know this is hard to believe — but if someone uses the word 'kindly,' that's usually a red flag."
Kristi Roe-Owen, a freelance writer who supplements her income with gig work for companies like Data Annotation, said a green flag for her is when the sign-up and interview process is complex.
"They wanted a lot of information about my skills, my contributions, and what I had to offer as a writer," Roe-Owen said. "And then immediately after I finished that initial sign-up process, I was prompted to go through qualifications. That was green flags across the board, for me."
Roe-Owen added that building out a network of other freelancers or gig workers helps her learn about postings by word of mouth, even if it's just via a post in her Discord group.
"A green flag is also that I've actually read an experience from someone else who's doing it successfully," Roe-Owen said. "That gives me an idea of what to expect."
Mitchell agrees — a quick search on social media always helps confirm her hunches.
"I find a classic Reddit search does you wonders," Mitchell said.
Keeping your wits about you is the most important part of the process, Moore said, and added to avoid being guided by desperation. She also believes that age-old advice endures for a reason.
"If it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is too good to be true, and you want to do your due diligence," she said. "When you're looking for remote jobs, you do have to take your time. It's a numbers game. You just can't believe that somebody's selling you gold."
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