Fake job offers are common everywhere, and they target people who need work the most. Some want your money, some want your personal documents, and some want you to do unpaid work. Knowing the signs protects you.

Warning signs

  • They ask you to pay. A fee for "processing", a visa, training, a uniform or a medical test before you start. Real employers do not ask job seekers to pay to be hired. Rules on who pays for visas and recruitment differ by country; check them with an official source.
  • The offer is too good. A high salary for little work, no experience needed, and you are "selected" without an interview.
  • They rush you. "Reply today or lose the place."
  • The contact looks wrong. A free email address for a big company, a phone number only on chat apps, spelling mistakes, or a website name that is almost, but not quite, the real one.
  • They want documents too early. Your passport, ID, bank card or bank login before you have a written offer. Nobody needs your bank password, ever.
  • No real interview. Only text chat, no named person, no clear job description.
  • Strange tasks. Receiving money and sending it on, buying gift cards, or "reviewing products" for pay that starts only after you deposit money.

What to check

  1. Search the company name plus words like "scam" or "fraud".
  2. Find the company's official website yourself, not from the link they sent, and see if the job is listed there.
  3. Call or email the company using the contact details on its official site and ask if the offer is real.
  4. Ask for a written offer with the job title, salary, place of work and employer name.
  5. For jobs abroad, check the official rules for work visas in that country, from its government sites or its embassy.

If you think it is a scam

  • Stop replying and do not send money or documents.
  • Keep the messages and any receipts.
  • Report the advert to the site where you saw it.
  • If you lost money or documents, report it to the police or the official body for online fraud in your country.

A good rule

If you would be embarrassed to show the offer to a friend who knows the field, ask that friend first. A second opinion takes five minutes and can save months of trouble.