Has someone messaged you about getting paid for micro-tasks — such as liking photographs or rating product images? You may be the intended victim of a type of job scam that the Federal Trade Commission says is sweeping the country. Is your micro-task a scam or legit? Here’s how to tell.
Scam or legit
According to new FTC data, micro “task scams” have quadrupled in just the first few months of 2024, with some 20,000 reported incidents. These cons now account for nearly 40% of the agency’s job scam reports. And they are largely responsible to a huge rise in consumer losses, totaling $220 million in just the first half of 2024.
Unfortunately for side hustlers, these micro task scams often appear nearly identical to legitimate opportunities offered by a host of online platforms, such as MechanicalTurk and ClickWorker.
Most of these micro-tasks don’t pay close to minimum wage. But some consumers like them because they’re easy. And there’s nothing stopping you from doing them while you’re watching t.v..
Another thing that makes these scams seem legit? The scammers sometimes provide small payments for jobs to convince consumers that the opportunity is real.
Red flags
So, how would you know whether your micro-task is a scam or legit? It starts with how you found the gig. The FTC says the scammers typically approach you via text or WhatsApp messages.
Real gig companies don’t do that. They have websites and apps that you can download on legitimate sites like Apple and Google Play. If the company you’re talking to is asking you to work directly with them — or download something directly from them — be skeptical.
You pay them
Additionally, at some point, the scammer will ask you to deposit your own money — often in untraceable cryptocurrency — to get a bigger reward. If you do that, your money is lost, the FTC says.
It’s worth noting that some legitimate “get paid to play” apps, such as CashGiraffe, Bubble Cash and Bingo Cash also encourage you to buy products in order to earn higher rewards playing their games. However, the purchases are made via credit card, not crypto. (And, SideHusl.com does not recommend any of these sites for a wide array of reasons that you can read about in our reviews, linked above.)
Legit small-effort, small-pay options
But if you’re looking for legitimate ways to make small amounts of money with your cell phone, there are plenty of options.
Get-paid-to-play sites, including Scrambly, Mistplay and Rewarded Play, will all reward you small amounts for playing games, watching advertisements and taking surveys.
Survey Junkie, Qmee and Prolific also pay you for taking surveys.
Of the three, Prolific pays the most and has the fewest hoops to jump through. The site pre-qualifies you by asking a lot of questions up-front. But, then, when it sends you a survey, it never bumps you because you answer a “screening question” incorrectly.
The other two pay small amounts for surveys as well. But, you need to qualify for each paid survey, which often means you answer a lot of questions before discovering you’re not qualified for the paid research. However, both sometimes pay small consolation prizes of 10 to 25 cents.
Other options: Product Tube will pay you $5 to $35 for doing short — 2 – 5 minute — video reviews of products on your smart phone.
Meanwhile Ivueit and ProxyPics pay freelance photographers to take pictures of properties. Ivueit mostly works with commercial landowners, who want to know the status of a commercial property repair. The site pays anywhere from $5 to $35, depending on the location of the property and the complexity of the assignment.
ProxyPics, meanwhile, works with appraisers, insurance adjusters and others taking photographs of residential property. Most jobs pay $10 – $25. But if you are asked to do more thorough photos, you could get paid as much as $125.
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