As online teaching has grown, so have scams aimed at teachers. Here are the most common ones and how to stay safe.
Common scams
- “Registration fee” academies: A so-called academy asks you to pay to join and promises students who never come.
- Fake overpayment: A “parent” sends more than the fee and asks you to return the extra. The original payment later bounces or turns out to be fraudulent.
- Account renting: Someone offers to “rent” you a foreign tutoring or payment account. This breaks platform rules and you can lose all earnings.
- Too-good-to-be-true pay: Very high hourly rates with no interview or demo lesson.
- Requests for OTPs or passwords: No real employer needs your bank OTP or account password.
How to protect yourself
- Use well-known platforms or academies you can verify.
- Never pay to get a teaching job.
- Use accounts only in your own name with your real details.
- For private students, take fees in advance for a fixed number of lessons.
- Keep all chats and payment records.
If you are scammed
Report it to the platform, your bank or wallet provider, and the FIA’s cybercrime wing as soon as possible.
Honest work, honest pay: if an offer needs you to break rules or pay first, it is not worth it.