Never pay to get paid: work-from-home scams to know in 2026

The FTC has shut down several AI income schemes and warns about job scams that ask for deposits. Here's what they look like.

Work-from-home scams are growing. The FTC reports that people's reported losses to job scams rose from $90 million in 2020 to $501 million in 2024. One rule protects you from many of them: never pay to get paid. A real job or client pays you. It doesn't ask you to deposit money first.

"Task" jobs by text and WhatsApp

A friendly stranger offers easy online tasks, like rating products or "optimizing" apps. You see small earnings at first. Then you're told to deposit money, often crypto, to open bigger tasks or withdraw what you earned. The FTC calls these task scams. Reports went from almost none in 2020 to about 20,000 in the first half of 2024.

"AI does it for you" store schemes

These sell a done-for-you online store, often on Amazon or Walmart, run by "AI" that is supposed to bring passive income. The FTC has taken several to court. Some examples:

• FBA Machine / Passive Scaling. The FTC says it promised income from AI-powered online stores and that people lost more than $15 million. A 2025 court order bans the company and its owner from selling business opportunities.
• Ascend Ecom. The FTC says it sold "AI-powered" store tools with false income claims and that people lost at least $25 million. A 2025 court order bans the company and its owners from selling business opportunities.
• Click Profit. The FTC says it made false AI claims and claimed brand partnerships, such as with Nike and Disney, that it didn't have. The FTC says people lost at least $14 million. 2025 court orders ban its operators from selling business opportunities.

Multi-level marketing

MLMs pay you on your sales and on the people you recruit. An FTC staff review of 70 MLM income disclosures found that, where the numbers could be checked, the vast majority of people earned $1,000 or less a year, and many earned nothing. None of the 70 counted all expenses, like inventory.

Red flags

• You must pay a fee, buy equipment or deposit money before you earn.
• Pay is high for very little work, or "passive" from day one.
• The job came from a stranger's text or chat message.
• They want payment in crypto, gift cards or a wire transfer.
• Income screenshots instead of clear facts about what most people earn.
• Pressure to decide today.

Check an offer with AI

Here is a job or business offer I received: [paste it]. List every red flag you see for a scam, including requests for money, unrealistic pay, pressure or vague details. Then list what I should verify independently and where. Do not tell me it's safe; tell me what to check.

Then check the company yourself through official sources, not the links in the message. You can report scams on the FTC's fraud reporting site. If you're choosing a real business to start, see which home business pays first.

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