FTC warns of online task job scams hooking victims like gambling

The FTC reports a surge in gamified "task" job scams that recruit targets via messaging and social platforms, pay small cryptocurrency commissions to build trust, then demand deposits to unlock withdrawals; the agency logged 20,000 reports in the first half of 2024 and job-scam losses exceeded $220M (with about $41M attributed to task scams). Scammers impersonate legitimate employers, push victims into group chats with fabricated success stories, and leverage crypto to complicate tracing, leading to substantial individual financial losses.