This spring, my phone started buzzing with an odd pattern of text messages.
The messages all promised easy money and flexible work, but they were strangely short on one important detail: What, exactly, was the job?
One text told me the only qualification I needed was to be at least 22 years old. Twenty-two? Not 18, not 21, but 22. That oddly specific requirement was my first clue that something wasn’t right.
Another message invited me to simply reply “YES” if I was interested.
The thing is, I’m self-employed. I wasn’t job hunting. I hadn’t applied for anything remotely close to what these texts described.
So why were they showing up on my phone?
As it turns out, they’re part of a growing scam that’s targeting people with fake work-from-home opportunities. While I immediately deleted the messages, I can also see why they’re catching people’s attention.
After all, the job market has become increasingly competitive. Recent reporting from CNN notes that many job seekers are facing a years-long decline in openings, making it harder to land new positions. At the same time, many companies continue tightening return-to-office policies, making legitimate remote jobs even more desirable.
Over the last three years, nearly 50,000 people reported employment scams to theBetter Business Bureau’s Scam Trackerafter falling victim. Reports doubled in 2025 compared with the previous year, though the true number is likely much higher because fraud is widely underreported.
In other words, scammers have figured out exactly what people want to hear.
The texts are intentionally vague
Here’s a screenshot of one of the work-from-home scam texts I received:
One thing every message I received had in common was how little information it actually contained.
There was no company description.
No explanation of the work.
No hiring manager.
No application process.
Just a promise of impressive daily pay and the suggestion that almost anyone qualified.
Legitimate recruiters don’t typically lead with a salary while telling you virtually nothing about the role. Real job opportunities usually include information about responsibilities, required experience, the company, and how to formally apply.
These texts skipped all of that.
The FTC says this is a growing scam
According to the Federal Trade Commission, scammers are increasingly impersonating recruiters from legitimate companies and advertising remote jobs with attractive pay.
Many claim they’re hiring for positions like “online assessor” or other generic remote roles. Rather than directing people to an official application, they often ask recipients to reply with “YES” or “INTERESTED.”
That simple response is designed to start a conversation.
Once scammers have someone’s attention, the scheme usually escalates.
The FTC says victims may be told they need to deposit a check and send some of the money back—a classic fake check scam. Others are directed to complete simple online tasks, like rating products or leaving reviews, before eventually being asked to deposit their own money to continue earning. Those are known as task scams.
The BBB says that they’ve seen fraudsters to watch and like videos online, promising big payouts in exchange for these easy tasks. But when the target tries to take out their money they’ve been promised, they are pressured into sending in their own cash to “unlock” the earnings. Then, the scammers pocket the cash and disappear.
No matter how the conversation starts, it often ends the same way: the victim loses money.
A few red flags stood out immediately
Looking back, several things about these texts practically screamed scam.
First, they were completely unsolicited. I hadn’t applied for a job, uploaded a résumé, or expressed interest in remote work.
Second, the pay sounded unrealistically high for work that required almost no qualifications.
Third, there was no meaningful information about the employer or the position itself.
And finally, asking me to reply with a simple “YES” felt more like a marketing text than a professional recruiting process.
Each red flag alone might not seem definitive. Together, they painted a pretty clear picture, though.
How to protect yourself
The FTC recommends ignoring unexpected job offers that arrive through text messages, WhatsApp, or Telegram. Legitimate employers generally don’t recruit complete strangers that way.
It’s also worth remembering one simple rule: You should never have to pay money to get a job or to get paid. Whether someone asks you to deposit a check, send money back, purchase equipment, or invest your own funds before earning income, that’s a major warning sign.
And if someone claims they’ll pay you simply to post positive reviews or like content online, walk away. Honest employers don’t operate that way.
I still occasionally receive these work-from-home texts.
Now, instead of wondering whether I should respond, I simply delete them.
If a job sounds vague, promises hundreds of dollars a day with virtually no qualifications, and arrives out of nowhere
It’s probably exactly what it looks like: a scam.
Brittany Anas Creator
Brittany Anas is an award-winning journalist covering all the sweet things in life, from travel to home to food and beverage. She is based in Denver, Colorado.
Creators are not employed by Yahoo. Views expressed by creators do not reflect the opinions and position of Yahoo.Learn how to become a creator.
