Know the tells · 05

A story you can't visit

A military deployment they can't discuss. An oil rig off Norway. A surgeon on contract with an international organization. The jobs vary; the geometry never does — they are always somewhere you cannot go, cannot call, and cannot check.

The pattern

This isn't a hunch — it's the FTC's own tally. Their data spotlight on scammers' favorite lies puts the faraway posting — military base, oil rig, overseas contract — among the most reported cover stories, built from tens of thousands of consumer reports. The companion guidance notes the excuse for never meeting is usually "baked right into their fake identity."

Why these jobs specifically

The fake job is a load-bearing wall. In one stroke it explains why they can't meet, why video calls fail, why the phone number is foreign, and why the hours are strange. Better still, it pre-loads the plot: deployments end with "leave request fees," rigs have "equipment emergencies," contracts have "customs trouble" — each one a rehearsed reason that money will soon be needed. The job isn't background color. It's infrastructure.

What to do

· Test the details, gently. Real deployments and postings have textures — time zones, mundane routines, coworkers. Vague answers to easy questions are data.
· Know the real rules: actual service members can video-call, don't need money for leave, and the military never charges families "release fees." Those asks are scripts.
· Reverse image search the uniform photos — stolen military pictures are a staple of these personas.
· Unverifiable job + any money ask = stop. That combination is the documented scam shape, full stop.

Does their story only exist in chat?

Twelve questions — the story, the pressure, the money. Works on behalf of a worried friend or parent too.

run the scam check