A fake job listing copies a real employer's post and changes the contact route. Before you apply, check that the hiring contact uses the employer's real domain, that the interview happens on the employer's systems, and that nobody asks for money, gift cards, or bank details.
The listing looks right. The company is real, the role matches your skills, the salary is good but not absurd, and the recruiter found you first, which feels flattering. That is the point. Fake job listings work because they are copied from real ones, with one thing changed: where you send your information, and who you send money to.
The FTC's consumer reporting shows job scams as a steady category, and the pattern barely changes year to year, because it keeps working. A resume is valuable on its own: name, phone, address, work history, and often enough to start an identity theft file. Add a fake onboarding step and the scammer gets bank details too.
First, find the real employer. Search the company name yourself, do not click links in the listing, and go to the company's own careers page. If the role is real, it is usually listed there. If it is not listed there, that is not proof it is fake, small companies post on boards first, but it is a reason to slow down.
Second, look at the email domain. A recruiter for a real company emails from that company's domain. A Gmail, Outlook, or lookalike domain, careers-acme-jobs.com instead of acme.com, is the single most reliable tell in this scam. The scammer can copy a logo in seconds. Registering a convincing domain takes effort, and most do not bother to do it well.
Third, check the interview route. A real hiring process happens on the employer's systems or a known video platform with a named interviewer you can look up. An interview that happens entirely in a messaging app, Telegram, WhatsApp, Signal, with no video and no verifiable person, is not a hiring process.
No legitimate employer charges you to get hired. Not for training, not for equipment, not for a background check, not for software licenses, not as a refundable deposit. The moment any payment is requested, in any direction, before your first paycheck, stop. Gift cards are the sharpest version: no real employer pays for equipment in gift cards, and no real onboarding asks you to buy them.
The softer version is the equipment check scam. The company sends you a check for a laptop, you deposit it, you buy the laptop from their vendor, and the check bounces a week later. The check was fake, the vendor was the scammer, and your bank holds you responsible for the money you already sent. A real employer ships you equipment or reimburses you after you start, never by check in advance.
Apply through the company's own site, not through the link in the listing. If the recruiter contacted you first, reply asking to continue on the company's official channel, and see what happens. A real recruiter will say yes without hesitation. A scammer will give you a reason not to.
If you already sent a resume, treat it as a data exposure, not a disaster. Watch for the signs: new accounts opened in your name, password reset emails you did not request, calls referencing the application. Report the listing to the job board and to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, with the listing URL and the contact details. Boards remove listings faster when reports include specifics.
Readers working through this topic often find these earlier guides useful as well: Fake Sneaker Listings: The Price Gap, the Photo Set, and the Seller Age Check, Counterfeit Supplements: Label Tells and the Lot Number Check, and A Serial Number That Checks Out Can Still Be Fake.
Check three things: the role on the employer's own careers page, the recruiter's email domain matching the company, and whether the interview happens on a verifiable platform with a named person. A Gmail address, a lookalike domain, or an interview entirely in a messaging app are all red flags.
No. No legitimate employer charges for training, equipment, background checks, or software before your first paycheck. Any payment request, especially in gift cards, means the listing is a scam.
The fake employer sends a check for a laptop, you deposit it and buy from their vendor, and the check bounces a week later. The check was fake and the vendor was the scammer. Real employers ship equipment or reimburse you after you start.
Treat it as a data exposure. Watch for new accounts in your name and password reset emails you did not request. Report the listing to the job board and to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov with the listing URL and contact details.