If a job post asks you to pay fees, buy equipment up front, or provide sensitive personal details (bank account numbers, Social Security number, passport scans) before any formal interview or offer, treat it as a red flag. Legitimate employers do not require payment to apply or be hired, and they only request sensitive personal information after a verified job offer and through secure channels for payroll or background checks. Scammers use these demands to steal money or commit identity theft, so refuse such requests, verify the employer independently (company website, official email domain, LinkedIn), and report the posting.

Sources: Federal Trade Commission guidance on job scams; U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency advice on employment scams.

Check the company’s official careers page (and verified profiles on LinkedIn or Glassdoor) to see if the job appears there with matching title, description, location, and application instructions. Legitimate postings will usually use consistent language, required qualifications, and contact channels; discrepancies in duties, salary, or an unusual hiring email (e.g., a generic Gmail address) are red flags. If the posting is missing from official channels, contact the company’s HR or listed recruiter directly using contact details from the company website (not from the suspicious ad) to confirm whether the opening is real.

Reference: Best practices for spotting fake job offers—U.S. Federal Trade Commission guidance on job scams.

Explanation: Confirming a recruiter’s identity helps determine whether a job posting is legitimate or a scam. Check the recruiter’s email domain (company domains are more reliable than generic ones like Gmail), look up their profile on the company website and LinkedIn to ensure it matches the name and role, and call the company’s main line to verify the recruiter’s employment. Red flags include requests for money, unusually fast hiring without interviews, or inconsistent contact details. Verifying identity reduces the risk of sharing personal information or falling for fraudulent offers.

Sources: guidance from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on employment scams; LinkedIn safety tips.

Check the job description carefully for specific content and tone that often signal scams or fakes. Look for vague responsibilities, unusually high pay for minimal qualifications, poor grammar or awkward phrasing, and inconsistent formatting (e.g., mismatched fonts, strange spacing). Genuine postings typically list clear duties, required qualifications, a company name and location, and contact or application instructions that match the employer’s official channels. Verify technical details (job level, tools or certifications named) against industry norms — implausible combinations or invented-sounding technologies are red flags. Finally, compare the posting to other listings from the same company (on its website or reputable job boards); large discrepancies in language or benefits often indicate a fake.

Reference: Guidelines on spotting job scams — U.S. Federal Trade Commission, “How to avoid job scams.”

Check online for others’ experiences — search the company name plus keywords like “scam,” “fake job,” “fraud,” or “review.” Use sites such as Glassdoor, Trustpilot, Reddit, and the Better Business Bureau, and inspect job-board forums or social-media groups related to the industry. Multiple independent complaints or detailed accounts (payment requests up front, identity-theft patterns, identical wording across postings) are strong evidence the posting is fraudulent. Save screenshots and URLs as documentation.

References: look up consumer-warning resources (BBB), community reports (Reddit, Glassdoor), and government guidance on job scams (FTC).

Explanation: Examine every step required to apply: legitimate employers typically use a corporate domain email, clear instructions, and secure application portals. Red flags include generic free-email addresses (e.g., Gmail), requests for sensitive personal data up front (Social Security number, bank details), vague job descriptions, unusually quick job offers, or pressure to pay fees or provide money-transfer info. Verify URLs (look for typosquatting), confirm the employer’s career page, and cross-check contact names on LinkedIn or the company site. Save communications and screenshots to compare against known scam patterns and report suspicious posts to the platform hosting the listing.

References:

• Better Business Bureau: “Job Scam Warning Signs”
• Federal Trade Commission: “How to spot and avoid job scams”

Explanation: Check that the contact methods listed in the job post match legitimate channels used by the company. Verify the company email domain (e.g., @company.com rather than a free service like @gmail.com), official phone numbers on the company’s website, and LinkedIn or corporate careers pages for the same contact details. Reach out using only those verified channels—not the ones provided in the suspect posting—to ask HR or the hiring manager to confirm the vacancy. If the posting insists on uncommon methods (text-only, messaging apps, personal email) or provides contact details that differ from official sources, that is strong evidence the job post may be fake.

Relevant checks:

• Compare email domain to the company’s official domain.
• Call the company’s published switchboard number and ask to be transferred to HR.
• Search the company website and LinkedIn for the job or recruiter’s profile.
• Beware of urgent pressure to communicate via private messaging apps or to send money/personal information.

Sources: Best practices from FTC job scam guidance and cybersecurity advice (FTC.gov; CISA.gov).

Explanation: Look for wording, structure, or formatting that’s identical to other listings or company pages. Search key phrases or entire sentences in a search engine—if the exact text appears on many sites or on a recruitment scam database, the posting was likely copied. Also note mismatched branding (logo/text from one company combined with contact details from another) and generic job descriptions that fit many roles verbatim. Copied content often signals a mass-produced or fraudulent post rather than a genuine, company-specific opening.

Sources:

• “How to Spot a Job Scam,” Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
• Tips from job platforms (e.g., LinkedIn/Indeed help centers) on identifying fake postings.

Examine the email address and the domain closely. Legitimate companies use official corporate domains (e.g., @company.com), not free webmail addresses (e.g., @gmail.com) or misspelled variants (e.g., @comapny.com, @company-careers.com). Look up the company’s website and compare the contact address; if the sender’s domain doesn’t match or the email comes from a suspicious subdomain, treat it as a red flag. Also inspect the sender name vs. the actual address—scammers often spoof a real person’s name while using a different or fake domain.

Why it matters: Domains and sender addresses are primary identifiers; mismatches or unusual domains are strong evidence a job post or message may be fraudulent.

Sources: OWASP phishing guidance; FTC advice on spotting job scams.

Explanation: If you suspect a job post is fake, document your findings and escalate because this preserves evidence and triggers an appropriate investigation. Collect screenshots, URLs, posting dates, contact details, and any suspicious messages or requests (e.g., upfront payments, personal info). Escalate to the platform where the post appeared, the company supposedly hiring, and — if financial fraud is involved — local law enforcement or the relevant fraud authority. Doing so helps protect others, allows the platform or employer to remove the scam, and creates a record that investigators can use.

References:

• FTC, “How to Recognize and Avoid Job Scams” (consumer advice)
• Platform help centers (e.g., LinkedIn, Indeed) on reporting suspicious listings