Your phone buzzes. It's a text from someone claiming to be a recruiter. They say a company you recognize is hiring for a remote position. The pay sounds good. The message looks professional.

All you have to do is reply "YES" to learn more.

Don't.

The FTC issued an alert this week warning about a new text scam involving fake recruiters offering fake jobs. The fake recruiters claim to be with legitimate companies you might know and say they're hiring for jobs you can do from home. And in a new twist, instead of asking you to click a link, they'll ask you to reply with "YES" or "INTERESTED." They want you to engage so they can scam you.

Once you reply, the real script starts.

Once they have your attention, they'll come up with reasons you'll need to send money. They might say they have a check you need to deposit and then ask you to send money back. Or they might send you online tasks like giving positive ratings or reviews to earn money, but eventually they'll ask you to deposit your own money.

With layoffs still fresh and people looking for extra income, this scam is landing right now.

The rule: Real employers never recruit by text out of nowhere. If you didn't apply, it isn't real.

Source: FTC Consumer Alert, April 30, 2026

The FTC dropped a number this week that stopped a lot of people in their tracks.

In 2025, nearly 30% of people who reported losing money to a scam said it started on social media, with reported losses reaching $2.1 billion. That's far more than the losses reported to any other form of contact, and about eight times the 2020 figure.

Eight times. In five years.

Facebook alone accounted for more losses than text or email scams combined. Investment scams caused the biggest reported losses at $1.1 billion. These often started with an ad or post offering a program to teach you how to invest. Other scammers posed as friendly advisors or created WhatsApp groups full of successful investors sharing glowing but fake testimonials.

Here's what makes social media different from every other scam channel. Scammers aren't guessing who to target. They're using the same tools real advertisers use, your age, your interests, your shopping habits, to find exactly the right person for exactly the right scam.

Your feed isn't random. Neither are the scams in it.

The rule: If an ad, post, or message on social media involves money, a job, or an investment, slow down before you engage with anything.

Sources: FTC Data Spotlight, April 27, 2026 | FTC Press Release, April 27, 2026

This one is the most common scam on social media right now and it's hiding in plain sight.

Shopping scams were the most reported scam on social media last year. More than 40% of people who lost money to a scam on social media said it started when they ordered something they'd seen in an ad, everything from clothes and makeup to car parts and even puppies. Many ads led to unfamiliar websites, while others sent people to sites impersonating well-known brands offering big discounts. Most people said they paid for things that simply never arrived.

The ad looks completely legitimate. It might even use a brand name you trust. The discount is just good enough to feel real.

But the website it sends you to is a copy. The product doesn't exist. And the return address, if anything shows up at all, is overseas with shipping costs that make a return impossible.

The rule: Before buying anything from a social media ad, search the company name plus the word "scam" or "complaint." It takes 30 seconds and it will tell you everything you need to know.

Here's a real message circulating right now:

"Hi, I'm a talent recruiter at [Company Name]. We're currently hiring for remote positions with competitive pay. This is a flexible, work-from-home opportunity with weekly pay. Reply YES to receive full details."

Three things give it away every time.

You never applied. Real companies don't cold-recruit by personal text. The job has no actual title, no description, and no company email. And the only next step is to reply with one word, which hands you to a professional scammer.

Real employers will never contact you via unexpected text, WhatsApp, or Telegram messages about jobs. And no honest company will pay you to give positive ratings or like things online.

If your parent or your adult child gets one of these, this is the issue to forward them.

The rule: If a job found you before you applied for it, it isn't a job.