TBD | Down the Text-Scam Rabbit Hole
What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Slate Podcasts
4.3 • 2.4K Ratings
🗓️ 17 August 2025
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The scam du jour arrives via a text message, offering you a job. What happens when you accept?
Guest: Alex Sammon, Slate features writer.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | A few months ago, my slate colleague Alex Salmon got a text. |
| 0:09.2 | You've probably gotten something similar. |
| 0:11.1 | I feel like I get one of these a week. |
| 0:13.1 | The random number job recruiter text. |
| 0:16.6 | It said, |
| 0:17.3 | Hi there. |
| 0:18.0 | Sorry to interrupt. |
| 0:19.0 | I'm from Indeed. |
| 0:20.2 | We're currently recruiting remote product testers, U.S.-based. |
| 0:24.7 | The number that the text came from, by the way, had a 6-3 country code, which is the Philippines. |
| 0:30.7 | This role lets you earn $50 to $400 per day by spending just 60 to 120 minutes, |
| 0:37.0 | daily testing and reviewing new products or services |
| 0:39.5 | online, all from the comfort of your home. Same day payment is available after each task is completed. |
| 0:45.0 | To be clear, this text did not actually come from Indeed, which is a legit job search company. |
| 0:51.6 | This text was a scam. And according to a CBS report, these scams are up 118% |
| 0:57.8 | in the last two years. Requirements must be 25 years or older, must be able to provide basic |
| 1:04.1 | feedback in English, no prior experience needed, and training will be provided. If you're |
| 1:09.3 | interested and meet the age requirement, |
| 1:11.1 | please reply yes to receive more details. |
| 1:18.1 | I would have deleted this text. You might have deleted this text, but Alex did not. |
| 1:24.6 | You know the old journalist Credo, right? You run towards danger, not away from it. |
| 1:29.4 | So when a fishing scam hits your inbox, |
... |
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