Virgin Media O2 UK warns customers of rise in recruitment scams

Broadband and mobile operators Virgin Media and O2 (VMO2) have this morning warned customers that they’ve seen a rise in recruitment scams, which have now entered their top 10 list of the most reported scam types across their UK network. The warning comes as almost 1 million 16–24-year-olds are not in education, employment or training – making them prime targets for such scams.

According to VMO2’s latest quarterly Scam Index update, a total of 1.4 billion scam messages have been blocked to date and they’ve also been using AI to flag more than 80 million nuisance calls to customers a month. So far, some 37% of adults claim to have already seen at least one job / employment scam over the past quarter, although Delivery Scams still top the list, with 68% having seen such messages.

Related text messages (SMS / TXT) identified on O2’s network typically show scammers posing as recruiters and promising easy earnings (see examples below). As usual the goal of the fraudsters is to trick people into handing over their sensitive personal and financial details, or getting you to download special software, which hijacks your device.

The proportion of people who reported seeing this particular scam rose by around 5 percentage points over the past quarter.

Example messages – recruitment scams

· “Hello, this is Charles from [recruitment platform]. A job may fit your profile. Reply YES for details or STOP to opt out.”

· “Simply take 60-90 minutes out of your day to work at your favourite time and place, and you can easily earn £100-£300!”

· “Hi, I’m Anna from [recruitment agency]. We’ve got a fantastic job opportunity that might be just what you’re looking for. Can i share the details with you?”

Recruitment scams can be convincing, even to those who know what to look for. Some 44% of young adults said they felt confident spotting fake recruitment messages, yet despite this 73% still failed to identify a scam text posing as a well-known recruitment platform and offering a job that “may fit your profile”. In addition, 49% failed to spot a scam promising £100–£300 for just 60–90 minutes of work and 72% missed another claiming they had been recommended for a remote job.

Murray Mackenzie, Director of Fraud Prevention at VMO2, said:

“Looking for work can be challenging, and an unexpected recruitment message can look like the break someone has been waiting for. Scammers exploit that hope, posing as familiar companies and recruiters to persuade people to respond.

With recruitment scams entering our Scam Index top 10, we’re revealing some of the messages fraudsters use so people know what to look out for. They don’t always promise extraordinary salaries – some look like an ordinary introduction from a recruiter.

We work around the clock to protect our customers and tackle fraudsters, blocking more than 1.4 billion messages to date. Before responding to an unexpected job message, check the opportunity directly with the company using contact details you’ve found yourself.”

Beyond recruitment scams, the Scam Index shows suspicious calls overtaking emails as the most frequently reported approach, with calls rising from 55% to 61% and emails falling from 57% to 52%. As above, delivery scams remain the most commonly seen, rising from 63% to 68%. Fake account suspension messages also moved into second place (58%), ahead of online shopping scams (55%).

The operator is once again encouraging consumers to remain vigilant and to report suspicious messages to the 7726 service (many modern Smartphones will have a button to help you do this). These reports are used by the telecoms companies to investigate and block mobile numbers used by fraudsters, which helps to refine their blocking services; making it easier to identify new trends and block messages faster.

Top 10 most commonly seen scams on VMO2’s network

1. Delivery scams – 68%

2. Account suspension scams – 58%

3. Online shopping scams – 55%

4. Government / HMRC scams – 48%

5. Tech support scams – 47%

6. Telecoms scams – 47%

7. Prize / lottery scams – 44%

8. Banking / financial scams – 44%

9. Job / employment scams – 37%

10. Investment / crypto scams – 37%