How Real AI Training Work Works

Every real platform follows the same basic pattern:

1. You find the platform and apply on its own website.
2. You pass a screening, usually an AI interview or a written test.
3. You do tasks inside the platform, under a written guideline.
4. You get paid for tracked hours or approved tasks, through a payment service such as PayPal, Stripe, Wise or a bank transfer.
5. You never pay anything. Not to apply, not for training, not to withdraw your earnings.

The platforms say this themselves. Mercor states it never asks talent for any payment or fee. It says it makes its money from a margin on what client companies pay, and only once you are placed on a project. A real platform will not ask for sensitive information by text, email or social media.

Real platforms do check who you are, but inside their own site and through a named provider. Mercor uses Persona: you photograph your physical government ID and record a short selfie video. It runs background checks through Certn or Zinc and says those requests are part of its standard process. Ethos uses Persona for identity checks too, and micro1 checks a government ID and runs a KarmaCheck background check, with contracts and KYC through Deel. Do this only on a platform you applied to yourself, never for someone who contacted you first.

Mercor, Ethos and micro1 all work this way: you apply on their own site, Ethos pays on a cycle agreed for each project or when the project ends, and micro1 pays twice a month in USD.

Sources: Mercor time tracking and pay policy, How Mercor uses AI and data, Mercor ID verification, Mercor background check, Ethos privacy policy, Handshake AI support article, Outlier FAQ, DataAnnotation FAQ, Ethos expert terms, micro1 guide, micro1 library: FAQs, micro1 library: Deel, FTC task scam spotlight.

Task Scams Have Exploded

The US Federal Trade Commission tracks a scam it calls the task scam. Reports went from almost none in 2020 to about 20,000 in the first half of 2024 alone, according to the FTC.

What a Task Scam Looks Like

The pattern is the same every time, as the FTC describes it:

1. An unexpected text or WhatsApp message offers online work, with few specifics.
2. The “job” is simple and repetitive, such as “app optimization” or “product boosting”.
3. Small early payouts make it feel real and build trust.
4. Then you are asked to put in your own money, often crypto, to open the next set of tasks, with a promise of more back.
5. Once you send it, the money is gone for good.

That message follows the scam pattern the FTC describes: unexpected, vague, and moving you to a chat app. Real platforms have you apply on their own site and pay on a set cycle through a payout service.

A message alone is not proof of a scam. Mercor lets people who signed up choose email, SMS or WhatsApp for its updates. The warning signs are a message you never signed up for and any request for money.

Sources: FTC task scam spotlight, FTC consumer alert on task scams, Mercor communications settings.

Five Checks Before You Trust an Offer

Sources: FTC task scam spotlight, FTC consumer alert on task scams.

What to Do If You Think You Were Scammed

1. Stop paying. The FTC says money sent into a task scam is lost for good.
2. Contact your bank or the company you used to send the money straight away and ask if the payment can be reversed. Crypto is the hardest to get back.
3. Report it in the US at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, or in the UK at Action Fraud.
4. Do not pay anyone who offers to recover your money. The FTC calls these refund and recovery scams.

Sources: FTC: what to do if you were scammed, FTC: refund and recovery scams.

How I Checked It Was Real

Start From a Platform You Know Is Real

The safest way in is to go straight to real platforms yourself. The AI Training Job Matcher asks two questions and links you to the official listings.

Want to check a company you have heard of? Our list of AI training and data annotation companies covers every company we checked, with the work, who it hires and how to get in.