Spotting job scams and fake recruiters

Scammers sometimes pose as recruiters or employers to get money or personal details from people looking for work. The clearest sign is being asked to pay: a genuine recruiter doesn't charge you for training, equipment, a visa or a background check, or to be considered for a job. If something feels wrong, stop, don't pay, check the company through its own website, and report it.

Warning signs

• You're asked to pay for training, equipment, a visa, a background check or an application, before or after an offer.
• You're asked for bank details or ID documents before a written offer, such as your account number, a copy of your passport or a national ID number. Employers usually need these only once you've accepted a written offer, to pay you and check your right to work.
• You're offered the job without an interview, or after a short chat.
• The interview happens only by text or a chat app, with no call, no video and no named person you can look up.
• You're pushed to decide fast: accept today, pay today, or lose the job.
• The email comes from a personal address, such as a free email account, instead of the company's own domain.
• "Buy the equipment and we'll reimburse you." They send a cheque or a payment, then ask you to buy equipment from a supplier they name or to send some of the money on. The payment later bounces, and the money you sent is gone.

One sign alone isn't proof, but a request for money or bank details is reason enough to stop and check.

Should you ever pay to get a job?

No. You shouldn't pay a recruiter or an employer to apply, to be interviewed, to be trained for the job or to start work. Recruiters are usually paid by the company that's hiring, not by the people they contact.

Paying for something you choose yourself, such as a course or a career coach, is different: you pick it, you pay a business you've checked, and no job depends on it. If a job involves a visa, check the process and any fees on the government's official website rather than paying a recruiter.

How to check a recruiter and a job are real

1. 1.Find the company's website yourself, with a search engine rather than links in the message, and look for the job on its careers page.
2. 2.Contact the company using details from its own website, and ask whether the recruiter works for them, or with them, and whether the role is real.
3. 3.Check that the sender's email address uses the company's own domain, the part after the @, and that it matches the website.
4. 4.Look up the recruiter by name. A real recruiter usually has a professional profile that matches the company they say they work for.
5. 5.Search the company's name and the job title together with the word "scam" to see whether others have reported it.

What to do if something feels wrong

1. 1.Stop. Don't reply, click links or open attachments in the message.
2. 2.Don't pay, and don't send bank details, ID documents, or codes sent to your phone.
3. 3.Check the company and the recruiter through the company's own website, as above.
4. 4.Report it to the site or app where you found the job or got the message, to the company being impersonated, and to your local police or fraud reporting service.

If you've already paid or shared details

• Contact your bank or card provider straight away and say it's fraud. They may be able to stop or reverse a payment.
• If you sent copies of ID documents, ask your local fraud reporting service what to do next, and watch for accounts opened in your name.
• If you shared a password, change it, and turn on two-step sign-in where you can.
• Keep the messages, the sender's details and any receipts. They help your bank and the police.

Being scammed isn't your fault, and reporting it helps stop the same scam reaching others.

When a message mentions Emoti

Emoti is software that companies use to hire, and it has no step where a job seeker pays or enters bank or card details. A message a recruiter sends with Emoti comes from them, by email or on LinkedIn, and your reply goes straight to them. If a message says it's from Emoti and asks you to pay, don't. See Why a recruiter contacted me, and for what happens to your personal information, Your data and privacy.