Who's really hiring
Do the contact addresses and links belong to the company the posting names — or to a look-alike, a free webmail account, someone else's board?
Free job-scam checker
Is this job real?
Paste a link or drop screenshots of any job offer. Scout checks who's really behind it — the company's records, its website's age and history, the contact details and the posting itself — and tells you how far to trust it.
- No sign-up
- Screenshots never stored
- 9 checks, about 30 seconds
Company career sites, Greenhouse, Lever, Workday, Indeed and most boards work. LinkedIn or Facebook? Use screenshots.
Nine things Scout sniffs
Each one is evidence, shown to you in full. None of them alone makes a verdict.
Scam language
Fees, cheques, gift cards, crypto, reshipping, bank details up front, pressure to act now — the phrases job scams keep using.
How they want to talk
Real employers interview by video call or in person. Chat apps, anonymous forms and hidden links are a warning.
Website age
How long the company's website — and any other site the posting sends you to — has existed. Scam sites are usually weeks old.
Website history
When the Internet Archive first saved the company's website. A real business leaves years of history behind.
Job history
Whether the company's careers page — and this job — show up in the Internet Archive over the past 12 months.
Company records
The company in public registries: Wikidata, the global LEI register, SEC filings and UK Companies House — founding year, address, status.
Pay check
Is the pay believable for this kind of job? Fake offers pay far above the market for very little.
Posting details
Does the posting say who, what, where and when — or is it vague, stale or already closed?
One score, four stamps
Every posting starts at 60 — unproven, not suspect. Evidence moves it up or down. A few findings, like a fee asked of you, cap it no matter how real the company is.
Looks legit
80–100
Everything we could check lines up with a real employer. Still apply through the company's own site, and never pay to get a job.
Probably fine
60–79
Nothing alarming, but not everything could be confirmed. Check the company's own careers page before you share personal details.
Suspicious
40–59
Several things don't add up. Don't send money, ID or bank details — contact the company through its official website to confirm the job exists.
Likely a scam
0–39
This has the hallmarks of a job scam. Don't reply, pay, deposit a cheque or share personal details. Report the posting to the site it's on.
Questions
Is it really free?
Yes. Every source we ask is free to use, so there's no account and no paywall. To keep it that way, each person can check a handful of postings a day.
Do you keep my screenshots?
No. They're read in memory, turned into text, and thrown away — they never touch a disk. The text we read is kept with the report, for 30 days, so you can share it; you can delete it any time from the report.
Why use screenshots for LinkedIn?
LinkedIn, Facebook and a few boards only show postings to signed-in people, so we can't open the link. A screenshot of the posting works just as well — two or three if it's long.
Can a fake job score high?
It can, if it copies a real company perfectly and asks for nothing unusual. That's why the report shows every piece of evidence: read it, and still apply through the company's own website.
Can a real job score low?
Sometimes — a brand-new company has a brand-new website and no history yet. The report says exactly why it scored as it did, so you can judge for yourself.
It looks like a scam. Now what?
Don't reply, pay, deposit a cheque or share any details. Report the posting to the site it's on. If you've already sent money or ID, call your bank and report it to the police's fraud desk.