BALTIMORE — Remote jobs have become a fixture of the modern workforce. But, it has also become a fixture for scammers to target people with fake remote job opportunities.

The Better Business Bureau of Greater Maryland is reporting an uptick in these scams. In its 2023 Scam Tracker Risk Report, BBB reported remote employment scams as the No. 1 scam for ages 18 to 44.

How the scams work

Mickey Smith, who lives in Cumberland, fell for one of these scams earlier this month.

Smith said it started with a text and that he was suspicious from the start.

“I don’t usually respond to unknown texts, but I was low on money,” Smith said.

The text was a job offer, recruiting him to work remotely for Airbnb.

The conversation quickly moved to the instant messaging app, WhatsApp. That’s where someone named Jessica explained the gig and pay. In what was described as training, Smith was instructed to set up a cryptocurrency account.

During his first day after training, the account Smith created was drained into a negative amount. He was pressured to put in his own money to bring it back up.

Smith did this twice before realizing it was a scam.

“I went back to Jessica, I said, ‘Look, I don’t have that money. I don’t have any money I can put in there,'” he said. “She said, ‘You’re gonna have to raise the money somehow.'”

In a statement, an Airbnb spokesman said the company doesn’t ask for any kind of payment during a recruitment process.

“Our careers page details open roles at Airbnb and how to apply. Suspicious communications should be reported to our 24/7 customer support team for further investigation,” the spokesman said.

In total, Smith lost $218.

“I know it’s not a lot of money to people out there, but to me, I live on social security [payments]. I’m a disabled veteran. I make very little money,” he said. “[The scammers] took my last little bit and I’m having to live on what little bit I have to eat.”

In a separate case, BBB of Greater Maryland reported someone in Pennsylvania was emailed a fake remote work opportunity impersonating a local healthcare corporation.

The person noticed a misspelling in the email address and contacted the actual company, finding out it wasn’t a real opportunity.

What to look out for

Sadé Lemons, Public Relations and Social Media Manager for BBB of Greater Maryland, said these scammers often pull information from online job application websites.

“They’ll pull your information, reach out as if they are that organization, and they’ll take you through a process,” Lemons said.

Here are more red flags to keep in mind:

• Never pay money upfront for a job opportunity.
• Be cautious if a potential employer texts or uses social media to do a job interview, rather than by in-person or on something like Zoom.
• Research the company the scam claims to be, also try to verify and contact the company yourself.