Fake holiday jobs, task scams and reshipping offers: how job scams work in 2026

What's happened

The holiday season brings a rush of temporary jobs in warehouses, delivery and retail, and a rush of fake ones too. Scammers copy real employers, send unexpected job offers by text and WhatsApp, and invent "work" that ends with you paying them.

The FBI's 2025 Internet Crime Report, published in April 2026, logged 24,688 employment scam complaints with $362.9 million in reported losses. The FTC said in March 2025 that reported losses to job scams and fake employment agencies rose from $90 million in 2020 to $501 million in 2024.

The BBB's 2025 Scam Tracker Risk Report ranks employment scams as the second riskiest scam type, after investment scams, with a median loss of $1,000. They were the riskiest scam of all for people aged 18 to 34. More than half (51.4%) of the scams started with a text message, and cryptocurrency was the most common way victims paid, in 35.1% of cases. Amazon was a favorite disguise: 59.4% of reported scams impersonating Amazon were job scams.

Who's affected

Students, people between jobs, and anyone looking for extra holiday income. You don't even need to be job hunting. Many of these offers arrive out of the blue, claiming a recruiter saw your resume.

The three to watch

• Fake warehouse and delivery jobs. An ad or text offers high hourly pay at a well-known company, with a quick "interview" over chat. Then you're asked to pay for training, a background check or equipment, or to hand over your Social Security and bank details "for payroll." The BBB found fake job applications designed to steal personal information made up 32.4% of employment scams in its survey.
• Task scams. You're offered online work rating products, liking videos or "optimizing" apps. Early tasks pay small amounts to win your trust. Then you're told to deposit money, often in crypto, to unlock the next set or withdraw your earnings. The FTC said about 20,000 people reported task scams in the first half of 2024, up from about 5,000 in all of 2023. The BBB says this tactic made up 25.5% of employment scams in 2025.
• Reshipping jobs. A "quality control" or "logistics" role asks you to receive packages at home, relabel them and send them on. The goods are usually bought with stolen cards. The FTC is blunt: "Reshipping goods is never a real job."

Watch for the fake check, too. You're sent a check for "equipment," told to deposit it and send part of it on. The BBB found this in 20.4% of employment scams. When the check bounces, you owe your bank the full amount.

What it means in dollars: a worked example

This is an illustration, not a real case.

Jordan gets a WhatsApp message offering remote work rating products for $80 to $200 a day. The first day, he earns $12 and withdraws it. The next day, he's given a "combination task" that leaves his account $150 in the negative, and he must top it up in crypto to continue. He does, then gets another needing $600, then one needing $1,800. A friendly "mentor" in a group chat says everyone does this. Jordan has paid $2,550 and the $3,400 balance in the app was never real.

What to do now

1. Apply through the company's own website. Go to the employer's careers page yourself, not through a link in a text or a social media message.
2. Never pay to get paid. Real employers don't charge for training, equipment or a job, and don't ask you to deposit money or crypto to access your wages.
3. Ignore unexpected job texts. The FTC says real employers don't recruit with generic texts and WhatsApp messages.
4. Don't deposit a check and send money on. No honest employer will ask you to do this.
5. Protect your details. Only give your Social Security number and bank details after you've confirmed the job is real, usually once you're filling out official hiring forms.
6. Report it. Tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, the FBI at ic3.gov, and your state attorney general. If you've paid, contact your bank or the app you used right away.

FAQs

Are task jobs ever real?

Paid online surveys and product testing do exist, but a real one never asks you to pay in. If a job requires you to deposit money to unlock tasks or withdraw earnings, it's a scam.

I reshipped packages without knowing. Am I in trouble?

Stop right away, keep any messages and labels, and report it to the FTC and the US Postal Inspection Service. You may also be at risk of identity theft if you shared personal details, so watch your accounts and consider a free credit freeze.

Can I get crypto back from a task scam?

It's very hard. Report it to the FBI at ic3.gov and to the exchange you used. Be wary of anyone who contacts you offering to recover the money for a fee. That's often a second scam.

Sources: FBI IC3 2025 Internet Crime Report, FTC: new data show big jump in reported losses to fraud (March 2025), FTC Data Spotlight: gamified job scams (December 12, 2024), FTC: job scams, BBB Institute: 2025 Scam Tracker Risk Report