Urgent warning over WFH job scams as victims lose THOUSANDS from ‘too good to be true’ offers
JOB hunters are being warned about the online scams which have left victims thousands of pounds out of pocket.
Social media fraudsters are advertising a variety of fake work-from-home positions - including jobs reviewing products.
Investigators found that targets are being told to stump up cash deposits in order to release their wages.
But despite this initial payment, the con men never send over the money - causing victims to lose out on thousands.
Mum-of-one Mihaela Lazar, 34, was conned out of nearly £4,000 after responding to a Facebook job advert.
The hotel receptionist, from Andover, was keen to earn some extra cash working online in the run up to the Christmas period.
She said: "I feel really down, really upset and angry with myself.
"It was our earnings, our savings, my husband's, everyone's.
"I put my family in a situation where we don't have any money and we are behind with the bills, the council tax, the electricity."
Mihaela responded to an ad for a "product analyst" in October, which claimed she could earn money from posting reviews of televisions and fridges.
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She was promised that she could earn a commission on every review she did - up to 38 per day.
And within days she had been forced to pay £3,789 in a series of "investments" that never materialised into payment.
She added: "At the beginning I didn't trust it, I thought it couldn't be right because I had never used these products, so it was a little bit weird.
"They said it was like an investment. If I had, let's say, £800 in my account, if I was reviewing a £1,000 product, I would need to pay £200 to earn a very high commission."
She eventually realised it was a scam after entering a Whatsapp group with fellow 'colleagues' who posted screenshots of their high earnings.
According to the National Fraud Helpline (NFH), this is a common tactic among fraudsters.
Martin Richardson, one of the senior partners at the NFH, said: "Whenever people are desperate, fraudsters try to take advantage.
"The cost-of-living crisis combined with people needing extra cash for Christmas creates the perfect hunting ground for scammers.
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"These out-of-the-blue job offers through social media platforms seem to be on the rise.
"They will often lure people in by initially paying them a small sum before saying they need to deposit money to release their wages."
