To check that a job posting is real, test it against the employer’s own site before you trust it. Fake job postings exist, and they target people who are looking hard and may be new to a country or a sector. A fake can be a scam that collects money or documents, or a posting that was never meant to be filled. You cannot be certain from one look, but a few checks, done in order, remove most of the risk. This is general advice and not legal advice. If you have lost money or sent documents, contact your local police or consumer authority, and check their official website for how to report.
The quick answer
Look for the same job on the employer’s own website. Check that every email address ends in the employer’s real domain. Search for the name of the employer with the word “scam” or “fake”. Do not pay anything to apply, and do not send a passport, a bank detail or a national ID number before a written offer you have verified. If any of these fail, stop and ask.
Check 1: find it on the employer’s site
Go to the employer’s website yourself. Type the address into your browser, or search for the name, and do not click a link in the posting or in a message. Open the careers or vacancies page and look for the same title.
If the job is there, that is a good sign. If it is not, that is not proof of a fake, because some roles are filled by recruiters or listed in other places. In that case, write to the employer using a contact address from its own site, and ask whether the vacancy is real and who is hiring. Also search for the employer’s name with the word “scam” or “fake”, and read what comes back with care, since a few angry reviews are not proof either way.
A posting from a recruitment agency is normal. Ask the agency which employer the role is for, and confirm it with that employer.
Check 2: look at the addresses
Look at the address the messages come from, and any address in the ad. Real employers write from their own domain, for example name@[company-domain]. Be careful when the address is a free webmail account while the sender says they are a company, when the domain is almost the employer’s name with a letter changed or a word added, when the reply-to address differs from the sender address, or when the sender asks you to move to a chat app straight away and run the whole process there.
A free webmail address alone does not prove a fake, since some very small organisations do use them. It is a reason to look harder at the other checks.
Check 3: read the ad for pressure and vagueness
Real ads describe the work, the place and the kind of person. Fake ads tend to be short on the work and long on the benefits. Look for pay that is far above what the work would normally earn, no named team or location, grammar that does not fit a company of that size, and urgency such as “reply today”. None of these proves a fake. Several together are a warning.
Check 4: look at what is asked of you, and when
Requests that should make you stop:
- a fee to apply, for training, for a background check, for equipment or for a visa, paid to the employer or to a person
- a payment for a course that is described as required for the job
- your passport, bank account details or national ID number before you have a written offer
- money sent to you with a request to send part of it on
Employers do ask for ID documents and bank details, but normally after a verified offer, for payroll and right-to-work checks. Which documents, and when, differs by country, so check your government’s official guidance on what an employer may ask. If you are not sure, ask the employer, using a contact you found on its own site, whether the request is theirs.
Check 5: look for the real people and the real process
A real hiring process usually has a named company, a named role, and an interview you can attend, by video or in person, with someone who can say what the team does. If all contact is by text message, if the interviewer will not show their face or give a surname, or if the “interview” is a typed chat followed by an instant offer, slow down. Ask for a call, and ask the interviewer to confirm their role by the employer’s own address.
You can also search for the employer’s registered name in your country’s official company register, where one exists. Registers differ, so check the official source for your case.
What do real employers say about fees?
Public bodies and large employers say it plainly. The US Federal Trade Commission’s advice on job scams is “Don’t pay for the promise of a job”, and it warns that no honest employer sends you a check to deposit and then asks you to send part of the money on. International organisations publish the same warning about their own names. UNICEF, for example, said in a scam alert of 11 September 2026 that its legitimate vacancies are advertised only through its official channels and that it does not charge fees at any stage of recruitment.
If an employer you are talking to publishes a warning like this, read it. It often names the only addresses the employer uses.
A worked example
Illustrative: the message and the names are invented. You receive this by email:
“Congratulations, your profile was selected for a Remote Data Entry role with a global aid agency. Pay is USD 4,000/month. To start, complete a short chat interview with our HR officer and pay a 50 dollar processing fee for your laptop, which we will refund in your first salary. Reply within 24 hours.”
Run the checks:
- You never applied, so the “selection” came from nowhere.
- The pay is far above what data entry usually earns.
- The interview is a chat, not a call with a person who names their team.
- You are asked to pay, and a refund promised later is part of the pattern.
- The deadline of 24 hours is there to stop you checking.
Five warnings in one message. Do not reply. Look up the agency’s own careers page, and if it publishes a fraud warning, report the message there.
A 15 minute checklist
| Minute | Check | Pass when |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 5 | The role on the employer’s own site | The same title is on its careers page |
| 5 to 7 | The addresses | Every address uses the employer’s real domain |
| 7 to 10 | The ad itself | The work, the place and the team are named |
| 10 to 12 | What is asked of you | No fee, and no ID or bank details before an offer |
| 12 to 15 | The people | A named person, and a call you can join |
If something feels wrong
Stop replying. Keep the messages as evidence. Do not send money or documents. Tell the job board or the aggregator where you found the posting, so it can be reviewed. Then report it to the authority in your country that handles fraud, using its official website. A normal employer will not mind that you took a day to check.
Questions people ask
Can a real employer ask for my bank details?
Yes, but normally after a written offer you have verified, for payroll. A request before any interview is a reason to stop.
Is a job offered over a chat app always a scam?
Not always, but a whole process run in a chat app, with no call and no named person, is a strong warning. Ask for a call and for an email from the employer’s own domain.
What if the employer is real but the posting is fake?
Scammers often use real names. Contact the employer through an address on its own site and ask whether the vacancy exists.
I already paid. What now?
Stop paying, keep every message and receipt, and contact your bank and your local police or consumer authority through their official websites.
What we know and what we do not
Each job on Zorlya names the source it came from and links to the posting it was read from, so you can start Check 1 from that page rather than from a message someone sent you. Zorlya reads sources that allow it and shows what they publish. It does not verify that an employer is honest or that a role is open. A card can also remain after the original posting has gone, as described in three dates on a job. Use the employer’s own page to confirm.