Job scam detector

Check a job offer or recruiter message for scam signals — free, private.

Job scams have become one of the most common and costly frauds aimed at ordinary people, and they have grown alongside the rise of remote work and AI-written messages that look increasingly professional. The tactics are consistent even as the polish improves, and once you know the patterns they are hard to un-see. This tool checks a posting, offer or recruiter message for those patterns and gives you an honest read before you act on it.

Paste the full text — the job ad, the recruiter's email or WhatsApp message, or the offer letter — and it flags the signals behind most job scams: requests to pay a fee or deposit to start, requests for bank or ID details before any real interview, anything involving cheque-cashing, wire transfers or reshipping packages, contact pushed entirely onto WhatsApp or Telegram, unrealistically high pay for no experience, and personal Gmail addresses used on behalf of a supposed company. Each signal is explained, and you get a plain verdict.

It is important to be honest about what this can and cannot do. It can catch the common red flags, which is enough to stop most scams, because scammers rely on the same small set of tactics. It cannot confirm that a job is genuine — a clean result means no common scam signals were found, not that the opportunity is real. The only reliable confirmation is to verify the company yourself: find their actual website and careers page independently rather than clicking a link the message gave you, and check that the role and the recruiter genuinely exist there.

There are a few rules that hold regardless of how professional a message looks. A legitimate employer will never ask you to pay them money to start — no registration fee, training cost, equipment deposit or "activation" charge. Money flows from employer to employee, never the other way, and any reversal of that is the single clearest sign of a scam. A real employer will not ask for your bank account, national ID or card details before a verified interview, and no genuine job involves you cashing cheques, buying gift cards, or forwarding packages on someone's behalf.

The financial-detail scams deserve specific warning because they cause the most harm. A common version sends you a cheque "for equipment", asks you to deposit it and wire part of it onward; the cheque later bounces and you are liable for the full amount. Another asks for your bank login "to set up payroll". No legitimate onboarding works this way. If a message is steering toward your money or your account access before you have even spoken to a real person, stop — that is the scam, whatever else the message says.

If you have already shared details or sent money, act quickly rather than with embarrassment. Contact your bank immediately to stop or reverse a transfer and to protect your account; the sooner you call, the more can often be recovered. Change any password you may have exposed. Report the scam to your national consumer-protection or fraud authority, which both helps others and can be necessary for any recovery. Being targeted is not a failure of judgment — these operations are professional, deliberately urgent, and designed to work on careful people.

This runs entirely in your browser: the text you paste is never uploaded, which matters when you are checking a message that already contains your own details. If you want to go further, our guide on how to spot a job scam covers the tactics and the verification steps in depth, and the recruiter finder helps you confirm whether a recruiter genuinely works where they claim.

• ✓Flags fee requests, data requests, and money-transfer scams
• ✓Explains each red flag in plain language
• ✓Honest verdict — it catches scams, never fakes safety
• ✓Free, private — the text is never uploaded

Part of JobStraight — the honest AI job-search platform. Runs in your browser; your data stays on your device.

Payment requests and the money-flow rule

The cardinal rule: legitimate employers never ask candidates to pay them money at any stage. No registration fee, no training cost, no equipment deposit, no "activation" charge, no upfront background check fee. Money flows from employer to employee or contractor, never the reverse. If a job posting or recruiter message asks you to pay anything to start, that's a scam full stop. This rule holds even if the amount is small (£50), even if the job seems otherwise legitimate, even if they claim the fee is refundable. Scammers use small amounts to test whether you'll pay; if you do, they escalate.

Wire transfer and cheque-cashing offers are almost universally scams. "We'll send you a cheque for your first paycheck upfront so you can start immediately" or "transfer £500 to our account for your welcome package" are textbook scam patterns. Legitimate onboarding doesn't require you to deposit cheques or wire money. If a recruiter pushes you to move money quickly ("send it today, tomorrow is too late") that's urgency leveraging, another scam tactic. Any scenario involving you moving money to them, or depositing cheques they send before you start work, is fraudulent.

Background check fees are a common scam vector. Real employers pay for background checks or hire third-party agencies who bill the employer, not the candidate. If a job offer comes with "you'll need to pay £100 for a background check that you'll arrange yourself", that's not how legitimate hiring works. Real background check companies send you a link, you complete the form (no payment from you), and they bill the company. Candidates never pay for background checks.

Contact isolation and verification red flags

Legitimate companies use company email addresses (recruiting@company.com, hiring-manager@company.com). Scammers use personal Gmail, Yahoo or Outlook addresses even when they claim to represent a real company. This is because they don't have access to the company's actual email system. If a recruiter says they're from Google or Microsoft but their email is recruiter@gmail.com, that's a scam. It's deceptively simple because most people don't check. Verify: go to the company's website independently (don't click a link the recruiter gave you), find the careers page, and check if the email domain matches. If it doesn't, it's a scam.

Contact pushed entirely onto WhatsApp or Telegram is a warning sign. Legitimate companies use email for official hiring communication or LinkedIn, sometimes Zoom for interviews. Scammers often refuse email and push all communication onto instant messaging because it's harder to trace and leaves no record. If a recruiter insists on WhatsApp-only communication and resists email, that's a red flag. Real companies have official processes and paper trails. Scammers rely on impermanence.

Vague job descriptions with no specific company name or details are common in scams. "Work from home, £50k/year, immediate start, no experience required" with no company name, no job title clarity, no team information, is likely fraudulent. Real job postings are specific: company name, exact role, team, reporting structure, specific responsibilities. Vagueness allows scammers to customize the role to every applicant. If a recruiter can't answer basic questions ("Which team will I be on? Who's my manager?"), they don't have a real job to offer.

Realistic expectations and verification workflow

Salary that's unrealistically high for the role and experience level is a warning. "£80k/year for entry-level with no experience required" for a job that normally pays £25-30k is too good to be true. Scammers bait with high salary because it catches attention. Compare the offered salary to job boards (Glassdoor, Indeed, Levels.fyi) and see if it's in range for the role. If it's 3-4x higher than market, question it. Legitimate employers pay market rate, not massively above it, especially for entry-level roles.

Hiring speed that's too fast is a scam signal. Legitimate hiring is slow: application, phone screen, interview rounds, offer. The whole process typically takes 4-8 weeks. Scammers often fast-track you to "offer" within a day or two because the offer is fake and they want your commitment before you realise it. If you applied yesterday and got an offer today, that's not normal hiring. That's a scam moving fast because they don't have time to slow-play you.

Verification workflow: the moment something feels off, verify independently. Find the company's official website (not a link they gave you; type the domain yourself or search Google). Go to their careers page. Check if the role exists there. Email the main hiring email on that official careers page and ask if the person who contacted you is legitimate. Real companies can confirm or deny within a day. Scammers can't. This single step catches most scams. Trust independent verification over anything a recruiter tells you.

Frequently asked questions