Spot and avoid side-hustle and work-from-home scams

Use this guide before you reply to any work-from-home offer, side-hustle advert or recruiter message, or if you are worried about one you have already joined. Have the message or advert, any company name and website details you were given, and your banking app to hand. This is general information; if you have already paid or given account details, contact your bank immediately.

Step by step

1. Ask the three questions that catch most scams

   Before replying to any opportunity, ask: Do I have to pay anything to start or to get paid? Will money pass through my own bank account for someone else? Did they contact me out of the blue, often on a messaging app, offering easy money? A yes to any of these is a reason to stop, because genuine employers pay you, not the other way round. The most common current pattern is the task or 'like and review' scam: you are paid small amounts for liking videos, rating products or 'optimising' apps, then told to deposit money, often in cryptocurrency, to unlock bigger 'combination tasks' or withdraw your earnings, and the balance shown is never paid out.