A new and very dangerous job advertisement scam has been discovered. Here’s how it works and how we can protect ourselves
Scams, both computer-based and otherwise, are one of the greatest dangers of this digital age. And they become even more dangerous when they exploit people’s most sensitive issues, namely the need for work and earnings to ensure financial support. This is where the scam we will discuss in the following lines, nicknamed "the job scam" or the "business scam", strikes. Discovered in the United Kingdom, it is spreading like wildfire and some cases have also been recorded in Italy.
The job scam: a sneaky mechanism that destroys your bank account
The mechanism of this new scam is truly sneaky and exploits the precariousness of the victims in search of easy money. It all starts with an SMS, a private message or even a pre-recorded message. In the text, or in the voice, the person is asked to carry out small tasks that will be paid in criptovalute or credits to the current account. Small tasks such as watching some videos, evaluating public institutions, answering surveys or reviewing products.
How the job scam works
The scam is just around the corner. This is because in the initial phases the victims are actually paid, albeit with a few euros. This creates a climate of trust that pushes the person to continue carrying out these small jobs. Unfortunately, however, in order to unlock the new tasks the scammers start to ask for payments. Here the omelette is done. Those who fall for the trick quickly lose the little money they earned and often find themselves with a zero account.
This is because very often the initial gratification pushes people not to stop and invest more and more with the hope of earning again.
How to protect yourself from online activity fraud?
Another problem with this type of scam is that it moves in the dark areas of the digital world. In reality, there are some apps that make you earn something with reviews and viewing online content. And it is really difficult to distinguish the true from the false.
However, there are some small tricks to defend yourself. The first, and the most effective, is to never answer calls from unknown numbers or with an international prefix. Usually scammers of this type are located abroad.
The second thing to do is to always avoid clicking on suspicious links. As we have seen previously, in some cases this type of scam moves on messaging channels.
The third piece of advice, and perhaps the most important, is to remain vigilant. There are no online jobs that require a preliminary payment to be carried out.
The last thing to do, if you fall into the trap, is to report the incident to the competent authorities. In Italy, the body responsible for defending against computer crimes is the Police.
Original article published on Money.it Italy 2025-02-13 11:25:33.
Original title: Attenzione a questi annunci di lavoro. Sono una truffa che mette in pericolo il conto corrente
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