How to tell if a job offer is a scam

Eight signs the job offer may be fake

• Unexpected contact: A recruiter messages you out of the blue with a vague remote role.
• Big pay, little detail: The salary sounds unusually high but the work, team, or qualifications stay unclear.
• Instant hiring: You get an offer before a real conversation with the employer.
• Personal account: The recruiter uses a free email address or insists on text, WhatsApp, or Telegram.
• Money up front: You must pay for training, equipment, software, or access to tasks.
• A check to move money: They send a check, then tell you to buy equipment, return an overpayment, or forward funds.
• Secrets too soon: They ask for a government ID, tax number, bank account, or card details before a genuine interview and hire.
• Pay to unlock earnings: Simple rating or “optimization” tasks eventually require a deposit or cryptocurrency payment.

One clue may not prove fraud. A request to pay, deposit a check and send money onward, or use your own funds to unlock earnings is a reason to stop immediately.

Verify the opening—not the recruiter

1. Leave the message and navigate to the company's official website yourself.
2. Find its careers page and look for the exact role, location, and job ID.
3. Contact the company through a published phone number or email address—not the details in the offer.
4. Check the sender's full email domain and the recruiter's history, but do not treat either as proof on its own.
5. Ask for a live conversation about the role, team, reporting line, and hiring process.

Scammers copy real listings and company identities. The safest confirmation comes from the employer's own careers page or a contact method you found independently.

Never move money for a new employer

A fake check can appear in your account before the bank discovers it is worthless. If you send real money for equipment, gift cards, an “overpayment,” or a supplier, the check can later be reversed and you may owe the bank the full amount. Do not deposit the check, spend it, or send any money onward. Contact your bank using the number on its official app, website, statement, or card.

If you already responded or paid

• Stop communicating and do not send more money, documents, or codes.
• Contact your bank or payment provider immediately and ask whether the payment can be stopped or reversed.
• Change any password you shared from the real service, make it unique, and enable multi-factor authentication.
• If you shared identity information, follow a recovery plan at IdentityTheft.gov.
• Save the listing, messages, email addresses, phone numbers, receipts, and transaction details before reporting.
• Report the fraud to the platform, the FTC, and—when appropriate—the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Use a screenshot before you act

isReal checks suspicious job offers and explains the pressure tactics, impersonation clues, payment traps, and safer next step in plain language.