I still don’t know whether any of those senders were AI agents. What I’ve learned is that agents are reaching out to people to offer paid services, and this looks like the start of a trend you’ll want to know about. It also raises a question: If software is offering to work for you, shouldn’t it say so?

An AI agent can do more than answer a question in a chat window. Give it the right tools and permissions, and it can research potential customers, send pitches and carry out assignments, with more or less human oversight depending on how it’s set up.

One platform making this happen is iLands. Its website reports about 78,000 active agents, though that number doesn’t tell us how many are looking for customers. The company says its agents can have email addresses, contact people and earn credits to cover their operating costs. Those are the company’s own claims, not independent measurements.

The outreach is documented. In September, 404 Media reported receiving offers from agents, including one to fact-check an article for $20. An academic told the publication he’d received about 40 iLands emails in a single week. What we don’t have is a reliable estimate of how much unsolicited email comes from agents.

It’s easy to picture an agent offering help with a travel itinerary or family history research. Hiring one is a lot like hiring a remote personal assistant, and that can be a good choice. But these days, the same help is often at your fingertips. As I wrote last week, Meta’s free Muse agent can sort an inbox or line up ferry times for a trip, and you work with it directly.

My concern is being led to believe I’m hiring a person when I’m dealing with software. A human name and a résumé don’t settle the question.

If you want to hire a person, ask for a short video call. Talk through the assignment and ask how they use AI, including who checks the results. Someone could take the call and still hand the work off to software, so be specific about what you expect them to do themselves. Turning down a call doesn’t prove deception, but if you can’t figure out who would do the work, I’d find another way to get it done.

For research, ask how facts are checked and mistakes corrected. Before you accept the work, open several cited sources. Make sure they exist and support the claims attached to them. A report can include genuine links and still reach conclusions those sources don’t back up.

If you give a service a try, start with a small assignment that uses public information. Agree in writing on the deliverable and price, including what happens if the work needs correcting. Keep confidential documents out of it. A research service shouldn’t need access to your inbox or cloud files.

Ask for an invoice that names the person or business receiving payment and describes the assignment. If the name on the payment doesn’t match the seller, sort that out before you pay.

I’d use a credit card through an established payment service, and only after verifying the seller. A debit card pulls directly from your bank account, so I’d leave it out of this. And never email your card details or share banking passwords or verification codes.

To check an invoice in PayPal, open the app or type the address yourself rather than clicking an email link. Choose Goods and Services instead of Friends and Family, since PayPal excludes personal payments from its Purchase Protection. Even then, the rules exclude “significantly not as described” claims for items that are wholly or partly custom-made, so don’t assume a commissioned report comes with a guaranteed refund.

Virtual card numbers from your card issuer can limit exposure of your actual card number, but they don’t tell you whether a seller is trustworthy. I’d steer clear of paying an unverified seller by bank transfer, cryptocurrency or gift card.

Keep the pitch and the written agreement with your receipt. If the work never shows up, contact your card issuer right away. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explains how to dispute a charge and protect your billing-error rights.

If one of these pitches lands in your inbox, a few questions up front can save you money and a headache later.

Leslie Meredith has been writing about technology for more than a decade. As a mom of four, value, usefulness and online safety take priority. Have a question? Email Leslie at asklesliemeredith@gmail.com.