Task scams often start with an unexpected message, typically on WhatsApp, normal text message, facebook private message or Telegram, presenting a work-from-home opportunity with flexible hours and no experience required. Some individuals may have previously submitted applications on fake job sites, so the message might not seem out of the ordinary.
The scammer will describe the job as completing various tasks, with the promise of earning a commission for each one. They might also offer a daily salary, usually paid in cryptocurrency, which is important to note as cryptocurrency is not a regulated currency, and most legitimate jobs do not pay in this manner.
In a recent incident, an individual was contacted via WhatsApp by a woman named Amelia, who claimed to be from the UK. She introduced a job opportunity that involved working with a company called Small Planet Digitals, based in the USA. The individual was directed to the company’s website, where a job account was created for them.
The job entailed completing three sets of tasks per day, with each set comprising 40 tasks. The remuneration for these tasks was determined by the individual’s VIP level, suggesting a tiered payment system based on performance or involvement. This is a typical example of a task job scam. This kind of job offer, while seemingly attractive due to its structured and potentially lucrative nature, raises questions about its legitimacy and the potential risks involved in such online employment task scams.
In some cases, scammers mimic real companies, showing you a legitimate-looking website at first. When you search for the company on Google and other review websites, everything appears positive. However, for the actual job, they’ll direct you to a fraudulent “website portal” that mimics the real company’s branding. It’s crucial to check the URL of the links they send; if they differ from the original company’s website, it’s a scam.
A recent job post on Facebook caught the attention of an individual, leading them to an unconventional work opportunity. The post was made by a woman who, after a brief conversation, assigned the individual some tasks. These tasks involved adding products to a wishlist and handling orders through a link she provided: amazoncloudapp.life/home ( Warning- scam website ) . The platform featured a ‘cash gap’ option, which required a recharge if it fell into a negative balance while grabbing orders.
The woman took care of the initial recharge, allowing the individual to proceed with the orders. Over two days, the individual was compensated in a cryptocurrency called USDT, although they admitted to having limited knowledge of crypto. They were then guided on how to sell the USDT on the Bitget platform. By using a virtual Revolut card for the transaction, the individual managed to earn almost £60. The money was successfully transferred to their main account. Encouraged by this experience, the woman suggested that the individual could continue this activity by creating their own account. This is part of the advanced fee scam where you are initially paid but later plundered out of your hard earned savings.
As the scam progresses, the portal will display a fictitious balance that increases with each task you complete. Eventually, you’ll encounter a task that puts your account into a negative balance, and you’ll be asked to deposit money, usually in cryptocurrency, to bring it back to positive. The “customer service” will assure you that you’ll be refunded once all tasks are completed.
Initially, you might receive small returns on your deposits to build trust. However, the tasks will gradually become more expensive, eventually requiring deposits of thousands. These “premium tasks” are often described as “lucky” by the scammers, promising higher commissions.
When it becomes impossible to continue paying, the scammers may suggest taking out loans, using credit cards, or borrowing from friends to complete the tasks. They’ll insist that there’s no other way to withdraw your money except by finishing the set of tasks, as per “company policy.”
Ultimately, whether you manage to pay your way to the end of the set or not, the scammers will not return your money. They’ll keep making excuses, claiming you need to pay taxes and fees for withdrawals, until you can no longer afford it or they cut off communication.
Check few task scam examples and user experiences here. Credit – reddit
Samples of Task scam emails, text or whatsapp messages you might get,
“Hey there, how are you doing? This is Michelle I’ve been trying to reach you about your past due tax balances and UN-filed tax returns… that I’m showing in my system that you have. Um I want to let you know I can help you get that tax debt settled once and for all and get your in compliance with any past due balances you have. You can reach me at 855-776-1212. I know this may be overwhelming and I want to take that burden off your back, so give me a call today.—”
My name is Betty Jean, this is a notification call from our department of tax and financial settlement Services there are new programs that can help you reduce or eliminate your debts completely. It is possible that your tax that cannot be considered to temporarily non, collectible you can call me back at my personal desk 833-577-2564 ( Originated from (615) 994-6477 )
“My name is Doug Simpson. This is a notification call from our department of tax debt, and there are new programs that can help you reduce or eliminate your life. It is possible that your tax debt can now be considered temporarily non collectible. You can call me back at my personal desk. 833-312-3246.”
“Thank you for calling. You have been routed to our department of Tax Debt Settlement Services. If you don’t have a tax debt over $5,000, press 1 to speak to be transferred to a manager. Since you have a tax debt over $5,000, we want to notify you of the new tax debt compromise program. The new tax owed compromise program will allow you to significantly reduce or eliminate your tax debt. Your tax debt can be considered temporarily non-collectible. You must elect to enroll in the program now. It is only open for a limited time. To enroll in the tax debt program, press 2.”
“this is a notification call from our department of tax debt and financial Settlement Services. There are new programs that can help you reduce or eliminate your debt completely. It is possible that your tax debt can now be considered temporary non collectible. You can call me back at my personal test. 833-577-2541.”
Sample user experience with these kind of scams:
Currently dealing with this myself. SEOworks is the name of the “company”. I have my last set of “tasks” and deposited money to make the transfer. Just found this thread unfortunately. I am day 4 and got my first “negative data merge” in the first of three “sets” of “tasks”. Guess what, I’ve gotten three “negative data merges” in the last round of day 4. First in the third round of 3 sets came at 31/40 tasks, second on 36/40 tasks and then after that second deposit to reset tasks, I immediately got another “negative data merge”. They are requesting a deposit of nearly $7,000 USDT to reset the tasks. I am encouraged to finish them by my “mentor” because “you can only get 3 possible “lucky” “negative data merges” in each set of tasks”. So 9 total are possible per day. I know it’s dumb to get this far but has anyone received a payout over 8k off one of these scams? Or should I cut my losses and not reset the tasks? Are there anyways of reporting these WhatsApp pay per task scammers? Even if there is no fiscal reconciliation, I would still like to get my money’s worth by blasting these poor excuses of the human race wherever I can. I have all of the communication documented. From the gaslighting “mentor” Whatsapp thread, to the stolen profile pic SEOwork group thread, bot like CS (customer service) thread to the ‘jobs come from clicks’ careerjet recruiter. Any enlightenment or feedback on this would be amazing. I always knew it was too good to be true but also got played by thinking you gotta spend money to make money.
User experience 2 from Reddit:
Well, “fortunately” I’m not the only one. Here’s my story:
I did the same. Got contacted two weeks before Christmas by a person called M****e, from the company traveling-booking.cc, part of Booking.com.
Actually the “concept” is good, in a way:
You help the hotels increase their market value by doing virtual booking. To do that you need to deposit for the bookings, and you make commission out of your own deposits. The size of it depends on how much you deposit, but I got “advised” to start low in the beginning.
When you have finished your 40 tasks(up to 3×40 is allowed a day, 2×40 to finish the full time daily job), you get your deposit and commission back in to your wallet, so there you own your earnings.
Sometimes you get a so called double or triple package(combination), with up to three bookings in a row, and that’s why the negative amount appears because the prize goes above your account balance. I was advised again to have some spare in my wallet in case those things happened.
For example, if you deposited 200 usdt, the prize for one booking would be around that, but not above. If you got double booking you would not have enough because you used your balance on the first booking. The same thing happens with the triple booking, and you could end up with around -400. if you don’t have that spare in your wallet, you may get difficulties in completing those 40 task during the day.
I have to say it is a very professional made site, with rules for what happens if you don’t do things in time.
If you read the rules you will notice that it actually explains what will happen if you fail to complete the task. You can “save yourself” by asking customer service to extend the task period over 24 hours, if you need to transfer more funds and so on. If you don’t contact them the account will be frozen.
Here is where i got stuck. I came to the 5th day, and got those 800 usdt during the 40 tasks. Suddenly the prize raised (because of higher amount in my account balance), and I got a triple package. Twice I had to deposit. This took about 48 hours.
The rule for a double/triple package is that if you get it(random) you will only get it once during 40 tasks. So when I covered the negative number, finished the tasks and got that huge(it was) commission I was about to withdraw it. It didn’t work.
I contacted them, and it was because of that frozen account. I panicked and yelled at my so called “recommender” and the customer service(CS). “why didn’t you tell me this earlier??” Well, as a matter of fact she advised me during that triple package to extend the period, but i didn’t’. Didn’t take it “seriously”.
Anyway I was told by CS to pay 5000 usdt in a so called(again) “reputation damage repair”. Kind of a new deposit. It works the same way. When they see the 5000 added to my account I get it all back, withdrawn to my wallet. My first question then was well, whats the point in paying 5000 if i get it back immediately? I was told that’s the way it works.
So here I am. Haven’t deposited these 5000 yet. Wanted to do some research first, and then I saw this post. Got skeptical…more skeptical 😉
What made me think the site was straight is the whole plan, or concept, of it. My recommender added me to a group chat in whatsapp, where several people was doing their work. Some having the same problems as me, with combinations, telling me that this was not scam, as I was facing “normal problems with bad planning by myself”.
The CS is also polite when they help you, giving you an address where you can deposit and so on.
Before I met the problem with frozen account I even laid plans to make the job work without problems. Not work 5 days in a row, only 2 days in a row to make only 100 usdt salary. On the 5th day I would finish only 40 tasks( not 2 or 3 x 40), because then my salary would start with 100 usdt again, since I didn’t finish at least 2 x 40 a day. If this would fail I would have enough in my wallet to cover the 800 usdt which makes the prize rise during the tasks, and..in addition have enough in my wallet to cover a triple combination.
I was advised to do some of this by the chat group. What i was never told was the 5000 usdt to make up for bad reputation.
I have never been fooled before, actually always skeptical to those things. But…as I said, I think the concept was good, professional site(simple design some places though), and we get back the deposit with the commission. I had the money back in my wallet several times, and felt happy.
My account is still visible with my last earnings, but frozen as I said.
The worst thing is that I still get thoughts in my mind telling me that it seems legit, and what happens if I actually deposit 5000? Will I be able to withdraw almost 9000(current balance 3,9k)?
I have asked CS if I really can push “withdraw” immediately after depositing the money, or will it start new 40 tasks, so I can risk huge prizes and even combinations? In that case I have to deposit more. The answer from CS is that I will be able to withdraw immediately. Of course he answers that, but I don’t trust it.
User experience 3 from reddit:
Been on the same site, being recruited via a whatsapp message. Silly me, said yes and before I know it, on day 4 I managed to withdraw 1.1 K from the “work” that I have done. (550 was the investment) and the rest was the winning.
On the 5th day, I got the big bonus, and started to do the tasks. Before I know it, I got a combo which meant that I have to advance 931 quid to get nearly 2k out). Luckily I have stopped, because it looks like it has been a scam. However, my question is : How did I managed to get nearly 600 in winnings and get away with it?
2 days later, after I have stopped, I have received a letter stating that if I advance the 931 quid I will be compensated with nearly 7k. Like hell I will invest again. Still… how did I made the monies out of it ?
And the same, name is Lena, part of a 20 odd people group on whatsapp, everyone with a lavish lifestyle. But when I started calling the numbers, all of them are redirected and some of them they do not exist.
User experience 4 about task scam from Reddit:
I got scammed too, I was also contacted via whatsapp by a lady called Amelia in the UK. She sent me a website that belongs to a company called Small Planet Digitals in the USA and I was directed to a website that also belongs to the company and a job account was created for me, the job is to complete 3 sets of task per day (40 task in each sets) and certain profits will be paid depending on the VIP level. I was so skeptical at first I had to do findings about the company and i found out that Small Planet Digitals is actually a legitimate software company in Brooklyn USA and they are present in most social media apps like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and even LinkedIn. And I was told that the task i will be doing will help create traffic for better app views in the playstore and appstore. I was also added to a whatsapp group this totally convinced me that I am dealing with legitimate people I never knew they are group of scammed. Everything went well the first 4 days I was able to deposit and reset the task each time I complete each sets and I was able to withdraw to my Bitcoin wallet. On the 5th day the worst happened they paid me 800USDT on the same work account then the problem started. The task amount went very high and I came across three combos I deposited the required negative amount for the first two then the came third one which was 2371 USDT, I became so mad and I was literally crying. I contacted the lady who referred me she said nothing she can do I have to deposit the required amount, she even offer to help me with some amount which is 1000USDT and I paid the rest 1371, that was supposed to be the last task and I was so happy I was gonna withdraw my whole money, to my amazement after paying the money and trying to withdraw the CS Said I have to pay compensation fee of 1988USDT for delayed task submission. Then I knew I was scammed. All my funds still stuck in there I can’t withdraw.
User experience 4 – task scam from reddit:
I can feel what u feel. I have lost 1700usd recently and I was also thinking that i am smart to not fall for this scams. The bait is they make you believe that u earn money but all those earnings come from the scam money so they never lose anything. We are not stupid or greedy but we think it’s easy money and then get stuck trying to get it all back. In my case they actually send the money around 600Aed but then i try to do another merchant task and they start asking more and more than the last task they asked for 7777 aed and that was insane and when u ask for help the mentor will ask you to ask your friends or family members to lend you money. 1700usd is a lot of money i was lucky that i realized that soon and not send more. Be careful guys and don’t fall for this people. You see a stranger number just block it and move on.
User experience 5 – task scam
Initially, I was recruited by Gathr to do a Task of clicking a button 45 times to buy and sell items for a small commission. But the biggest catch is that the merchant will throw a huge large ticket item which I am forced to deposited the differences to finish the task and I was not allow to pick. In terms of withdrawal, I am force to finish all the task in order to withdraw which leads me to a risk of throwing huge data combo commissions which basically throw huge expensive items at my face and expect me to pay up.
Now the most sus part of the job is using crypto currency as payment and a whatapp where Customer Service may have been talking like a robot. Yet I failed to notice it due to my personal desperation.
I”ve learn a very hard lesson and vow never to be scammed again as my trust level just sank hard. The most important lesson is, no one is going to give you a job over the phone, that is too good to be true. If anyone of you have experience it before or seen something similar, comment down below
User experience 6 task scam from reddit
Hello everybody,
recently I have been contacted by someone using Malaysian mobile phone number with Whatsapp account if I wanted an online job. The offer was exactly the same as you’ve described in this post – complete a set of daily tasks 40 or 45 a couple of times a day to get 0.5% commission.
Now the trick is that in order to start the daily set of tasks the account needs to be charged with 100 usdt which sounds doggy. The recruiter who gave me the job provided me with an invitation code which I needed to register for an account without it I could not have registered.
After registering and refusing to put my own money the recruiter offered me an alternative option – he registered another account with my invitation code and he did a round of daily task with that account. The commission he earned was high because he charged his account with thousands of usdt and as his account was created with an invitation code from my account, I got around 60 usdt in my account as a % from his commission.
Although 60usdt was not enough to start my daily tasks and I still kept refusing to put my own money into it I left it.
The following day another person contacted me over Whatsapp (UK mobile number this time) for another online job, different web page from the first one. Same scheme, same thing happened but this time I got 45 usdt as a % from his commission from the account he created with my invitation code.
Both “online” jobs required 100 usdt to start daily tasks and I had over 100 already so I started working both online jobs with the money I got. I did two sets of daily task for both online portals without requiring to put my own money. Daily I got between 20 and 30 usdt from each of the two “online” jobs.
It looked all good and legit because I was not risking my own money, I was using the usdt generated by both online jobs to start and continue “working”/doing the daily tasks. The trick that these scammers do is to insert once or twice the so called combination task as one of the 40 daily tasks which would require to put a bit more money to complete the set of tasks. By then I have already accumulated enough usdt so I have charged my account and finished up the tasks.
After 3-4 days of “work” these combo tasks started to require more and more usdt in order to complete the daily set of tasks. Just to mentioned – in order to withdraw the 100 usdt + earned commission I needed to complete all 40 tasks. In case of combo task appeared I needed to put between 40 and 80 usdt in order to continue.
In order to summarize – I have stopped after completing my 4th day of tasks and I got in total around 380 usdt earned from these two online “jobs”. I have stopped because I wanted to be reasonable and get whatever I could before the combo tasks started requiring me to put more usdt than I had.