Field guide
Job scams come in a few shapes, and they repeat themselves. Here's what each one sounds like — and what a real employer does instead.
You're “hired”, then sent a cheque to buy equipment from their “approved vendor”. The cheque bounces days after you've paid the vendor — who is the scammer.
We'll mail you a check to purchase your home-office setup.
A real employer: Employers ship you equipment, or reimburse receipts through payroll.
You're paid small amounts to “rate apps” or “boost orders”, then asked to top up your account in crypto to unlock bigger earnings that never come.
Complete 40 tasks a day, recharge your balance with USDT.
A real employer: A job pays you. It never asks you to deposit money to keep working.
A “recruiter” from a real company messages you, then moves everything to Telegram or WhatsApp, where an “interview” is a text chat.
Please add our hiring manager on Telegram for your interview.
A real employer: Interviews happen on video or in person, from a company email address.
A real brand's name, logo and job descriptions — on a website or email domain registered last week, like brand-careers.com.
Reply to [email protected] to continue.
A real employer: Real recruiters write from the company's own domain. Check it against the official website.
“Quality inspector” or “logistics assistant” from home: you receive packages and send them on — goods bought with stolen cards.
Receive parcels at home, inspect and reship within 24 hours.
A real employer: Logistics jobs happen in warehouses, not your living room.
Training, certification, a background check or a “refundable deposit” — something to pay before you start.
A one-time $89 training fee secures your position.
A real employer: Employers pay for their own hiring. You never pay to get a job.
The job is a pretext for your ID scan, bank details and social security number, used to open accounts in your name.
Send a copy of your passport and bank details to complete onboarding.
A real employer: Payroll details come after a signed contract, through an HR system.
Big pay for simple work and no experience is the bait that gets you to ignore everything else.
Data entry, $45/hour, no experience needed, start today!
A real employer: Entry-level work pays entry-level wages, everywhere.
Never pay to get a job.
Not for training, equipment, visas or checks. Not even if it's “refundable”.
Go to the source.
Find the company's website yourself and apply there — not through links in a message.
Slow down.
Urgency is the scammer's friend. A real offer survives a day of checking.