The fake job texts hitting phones in the UK

Virgin Media O2 has published the fake job texts scammers are sending to UK phones, with 29% of young people saying they have fallen for a recruitment scam.

The operator released the messages on Thursday (15 October) alongside its quarterly Scam Index, which moved recruitment scams from 11th to ninth among the most commonly seen scams in the UK.

The share of people reporting a job scam rose by around five percentage points between the June and October surveys.

Texts that Virgin Media O2 identified on the O2 network show scammers posing as recruiters and promising easy earnings, including:

• “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?”
• “Hi there! I’m Isla and you’ve been recommended by multiple online recruitment platforms for an awesome remote job.”

Almost three quarters (73%) of young adults failed to identify the Charles text, which poses as a well-known recruitment platform. Almost half (49%) missed the £100 to £300 offer, and 72% failed to spot the Isla message offering a remote job.

Over four in ten (44%) young adults said they feel confident spotting fake recruitment messages. Almost half (47%) of 18 to 24-year-olds have received a message offering a job they had not applied for.

Half of this age group worry about missing a genuine opportunity if they ignore an unexpected recruitment message, and 35% would be tempted to respond to an attractive offer even if they doubted it.

Scammers tricked 29% of victims into sending money or paying a fee for training, equipment or an application.

A further 32% of victims clicked a link or downloaded an app or software after receiving a fake approach.

The figures arrive as almost one million 16 to 24-year-olds are not in education, employment or training, according to the latest ONS figures.

“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,” said Murray Mackenzie, Director of Fraud Prevention at Virgin Media O2.

“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,” Mackenzie added.

“Before responding to an unexpected job message, check the opportunity directly with the company using contact details you’ve found yourself,” he said.

Scam calls overtake emails

Suspicious calls overtook emails as the most frequently reported approach, rising from 55% to 61% while emails fell from 57% to 52%. Delivery scams remain the most commonly seen scam in the UK, climbing from 63% to 68% between surveys.

Fake account suspension messages moved into second place at 58%, ahead of online shopping scams at 55%. The full top 10 most commonly seen scams in the UK are:

• Delivery scams – 68%
• Account suspension scams – 58%
• Online shopping scams – 55%
• Government and HMRC scams – 48%
• Tech support scams – 47%
• Telecoms scams – 47%
• Prize and lottery scams – 44%
• Banking and financial scams – 44%
• Job and employment scams – 37%
• Investment and crypto scams – 37%

Virgin Media O2 said it has blocked more than 1.4 billion scam messages to date and uses AI to flag more than 80 million nuisance calls a month before customers answer.

The operator advised people to find a company’s official website independently and use its published contact details to verify a recruiter and vacancy.

It warned that a familiar company name or logo does not prove a message is genuine, and that high earnings for little work or experience should prompt extra checks.

Virgin Media O2 also urged people to avoid clicking links, downloading software or sending money or personal details in response to an unverified approach.

People can forward suspicious texts to 7726 for free on every UK mobile network, and Virgin Media O2 uses these reports to investigate fraudsters’ numbers and refine its blocking.

Censuswide surveyed 2,000 nationally representative UK adults between 2 and 6 October 2026 for the research, comparing results with a June survey of the same size.

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