The National Anti-Scam Centre will coordinate a jobs and employment scam fusion cell to disrupt criminal groups advertising or offering jobs which do not exist.
Job and employment scams are targeted to steal money and personal information. Scammers often impersonate legitimate businesses or well-known recruitment agencies.
They use a variety of methods to advertise non-existent jobs, including messaging platforms or social media platforms.
Australians are losing millions each year to scams that offer work from home job opportunities. Losses from job scams reported to Scamwatch rose rapidly in 2023. In 2023, Scamwatch received 4830 reports, with reported losses of $24.3 million, an increase of 151 per cent compared to 2022. In 2024, reported job scam losses have been trending down but remain high, with $6.4 million lost so far this year.
"Job scams will be the next intense focus for a National Anti-Scam Centre taskforce, known as a fusion cell. We look forward to working with key stakeholders to disrupt this scam targeting people who are looking for work," ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said.
Job scams particularly impact people with English as a second language and non-resident visa holders. They also impact students looking for part-time work or people looking to earn secondary income due to cost-of-living pressures. Some job scam reports suggest job scams are used to groom money mules.
"Job seekers should be cautious before clicking on unexpected messages, and before sending money or information to sources they have not independently verified. As always, be alert and particularly skeptical of promises of good returns for small or basic tasks," Ms Lowe said.
As part of its efforts to combat job scams, the National Anti-Scam Centre is seeking to collaborate with the social media platforms where many of these scams are shared. It will also work with law enforcement, banks, digital currency exchanges, job advertisement websites, impersonated recruitment agencies and other entities to share intelligence and disrupt job scams.
Fusion cells are time-limited taskforces designed to bring together expertise from government and the private sector to take timely action to address specific, urgent issues. The National Anti-Scam Centre will coordinate a series of four fusion cells with different participants to target particular scam types.
The first fusion cell focused on combatting investment scams. In its final report, the National Anti-Scam Centre highlighted the positive impacts of government, law enforcement and industry taking a coordinated approach to scam disruption.
As a result of the first fusion cell, the introduction of a direct referral process led to the removal of over 1,000 instances of scam advertisements, advertorials, and videos. The fusion cell also led to the takedowns of hundreds of investment scam websites. Scamwatch has made it easier for individuals to report scam advertisements visible on social media and search platforms such as Google, Meta and Microsoft.
The willingness of members of the previous fusion cell to collaborate, share insights and act quickly on intelligence has helped protect Australians from harmful investment scams and reduced the amount of money stolen from Australians by investment scammers.
For further details about fusion cells see here.
Job and employment scams
- Scammers offer work so they can steal money and personal information. Stop and check any job that requires payment of money to make money. It could be a scam.
- Scammers offer jobs that pay well with low effort. But it's only the scammer that will make money in the end. Often the job doesn't exist at all.
- Scammers pretend to be hiring on behalf of high-profile companies and online shopping platforms. They also impersonate well-known recruitment agencies.
- Scammers may make contact unexpectedly through text message or encrypted message platforms like WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram.
- They often ask for payment so you can start the role and get the income they've promised. Don't enter any arrangement that asks for up-front payment via bank transfer, PayID or cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin or USDT. It's rare to get money back that is sent this way. Don't trust a job ad is real just because it appears on a trusted platform or website - scammers post fake ads too. If you come across a scammer, report it to the platform or agency and to scamwatch.gov.au.
- Never send passport, identity documents, or bank account details to an employer or recruitment firm unless certain they are genuine.
How to spot and avoid scams
STOP - Don't give money or personal information to anyone if you're unsure. Scammers will create a sense of urgency. Don't rush to act. Say no, hang up, delete.
CHECK - Ask yourself could the call or text be fake? Scammers pretend to be from organisations you know and trust. Contact the organisation using information you source independently, so that you can verify if the call is real or not.
REPORT - Act quickly if something feels wrong. Contact your bank immediately if you lose money. If you have provided personal information call IDCARE on 1800 595 160. The more we talk the less power they have. Report scams to the National Anti-Scam Centre's Scamwatch service at scamwatch.gov.au when you see them.
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