{"id":21850,"date":"2025-08-26T10:27:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T08:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.m-q.ch\/?p=21850"},"modified":"2025-08-26T10:27:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T08:27:11","slug":"task-scams-fraud-form-with-strong-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.m-q.ch\/en\/task-scams-fraud-form-with-strong-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Task scams: A form of fraud with strong growth"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This is how task scams work. (Graphic: Trend Micro)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cyber criminals do not stop at job seekers: cybersecurity service provider Trend Micro has uncovered a widespread, global criminal infrastructure that imitates reputable companies, exploits trustworthy communication channels and lures job seekers into traps with gamification elements. Victims take on simple tasks, such as liking and subscribing to social media pages or writing product reviews, which are completed in groups of typically 30 to 40 tasks at a time. Many victims report that they initially receive small commissions to build trust. Subsequently, however, they have to make higher and higher deposits in order to receive supposedly more lucrative commissions. This continues until the victims no longer make any new payments and lose the sums paid in and the supposed wages.<\/p>\n

Millions moved in cryptocurrencies<\/h3>\n

According to security researchers, the perpetrators transfer millions of euros via cryptocurrency wallets, while the victims lose between a few hundred and hundreds of thousands of euros. In one case, a single wallet received payments of over 160,000 euros (187,000 USD) in less than two months. Another wallet was linked to transactions amounting to more than 1 million euros (1.2 million USD).<\/p>\n

The report is based on direct interactions with scammers, infrastructure mappings of malicious websites and forensic analyses of associated cryptocurrency wallets and shows the key approaches of the \"task scammers\":<\/p>\n