WhatsApp scam warning as Brits lose £4.5m a year to fake jobs
The City of London Police, the national lead force for fraud, has warned that recruitment scams have reached a record high, with losses skyrocketing to over £4.5 million annually. According to data from the newly launched Report Fraud service, which replaced Action Fraud in December 2025, the amount stolen from victims has more than quadrupled since 2024 as criminals use increasingly sophisticated 'task-based' tactics to drain bank accounts.
But this may just be "the tip of the iceberg" as cases are "hugely underreported", City of London Police Temporary Commander Oliver Shaw told the BBC previously.
Fraudsters pose as recruiters and over a series of phone calls and text messages extract all the information needed to make card payments in the victim's name. Sometimes they can add a virus to a phone or email to access details.
Information collected can mirror what you may expect a HR department to ask, such as name, address, date of birth and bank details.
Scammers may also ask for money up front to carry out checks such as DBS or security clearances. They can also ask to access a victim's laptop remotely to add programmes they claim can help them do the bogus job, when really they are adding malware to access sensitive information.
There are also 'task scams' circulating which promise good pay and flexible hours to complete simple tasks such as optimising data or giving online exposure to a business.
Wages are often promised to be paid in cryptocurrency, but the fraudsters make it impossible to complete the required number of tasks without spending money to access the promised reward.
Globally, the financial devastation from 'task scams'—where victims are paid to 'like' videos or 'rate' products before being asked to pay for more tasks—is now estimated to exceed £185 million ($235m), according to intelligence from cybersecurity firm CloudSEK. This is up from £86m in 2024.
In the UK, Ofcom’s 2026 research reveals that approximately 38% of online adults have now been targeted by fake employment offers, making it the fastest-growing fraud category monitored by the regulator.
Keith Rosser, chair of JobsAware, notes that while these scams first surged in early 2023, the trend has evolved into an "industrialised" threat. In 2026, scammers have shifted from simple job ads to using AI-powered voice cloning and deepfake video interviews.
Mr Rosser highlights that recruitment-related fraud has risen by over 300% in the last three years, as criminals exploit the growth of remote work to impersonate legitimate global firms.
How to avoid WhatsApp scams
According to Ofcom’s latest 2026 data, the number of Britons targeted by online scams has risen to 54%, with nearly one in three of those targeted ultimately losing money or sensitive personal data.
The regulator warns that 'social engineering' on platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram remains the primary driver, as criminals use hyper-personalised data to make their approaches feel more authentic.
This can be done by posing as people in large groups, or simply by messaging individuals pretending to be behind a service they may have signed up for.
Report Fraud, the City of London Police's national fraud team, urges individuals to be careful if asked for personal information.
To avoid being a victim it says:
- Set up two-step verification to make it harder to access your account. (To to do go to Settings > Account > Two-step verification > Enable.)
- Never share your account's two-factor authentication code.
- If a friend or family makes an unusual request on WhatsApp, or sends messages that don't sound like them, call the person to confirm their identity.
- Report spam messages or block a sender in WhatsApp. Press and hold on the message bubble, select ‘Report’ and then follow the instructions.
- You can also report scam texts by forwarding it to 7726 (which spells SPAM on a keyboard). Spam emails can be forwarded to [email protected].
Speaking previously, Mr Shaw said: “We urge people always to be wary when receiving contact via WhatsApp or other messaging platforms. This is particularly the case when being asked to provide account information – despite the fact that you may recognise the individual’s profile picture and / or name.
“Never share your account information with anyone, and if you think it’s a fraudulent approach, report the message and block the sender within WhatsApp. To make your account more secure, we advise setting up two-step verification to provide an extra layer of protection. This makes it increasingly more difficult for fraudsters to gain access to somebody else’s WhatsApp account”.
Victims of cyber crime can report it at www.actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040, or for those in Scotland call 101.
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