TL;DR: Watch for job offers with no real interview process, requests to pay upfront for training or equipment, requests for your bank details before you've formally started, or communication only through text/chat apps rather than a company email address.
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How to Report a Fake Job Offer — a clear, step-by-step guide to what to do and how long it takes.
Step 1: Recognize the common red flags
Watch for job offers with no real interview process, requests to pay upfront for training or equipment, requests for your bank details before you've formally started, or communication only through text/chat apps rather than a company email address.
Step 2: Verify the company independently
Search the company name plus 'scam' or 'reviews,' and try to find the job listing on the company's own official careers page rather than trusting the listing alone.
Step 3: Stop all communication and never send money or personal documents
Once you suspect it's fake, stop responding, and never send money, banking details, or copies of ID documents, even if they claim it's for 'background checks' or 'equipment.'
Step 4: Report it to the platform it appeared on
Report the fake listing to the job board, social media platform, or messaging app where you encountered it so it can be taken down.
Step 5: Report it to the FTC or your national fraud reporting body
File a report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov (US) or your country's equivalent (Action Fraud in the UK, CAFC in Canada, Scamwatch in Australia) to help authorities track the pattern.
If this looks similar to something else you've seen, it's worth reading How to Report a Scam to Action Fraud UK.
This pattern shows up elsewhere too — see How to Report a Scam to the Competition Bureau of Canada.
Frequently Asked Questions
Step 1: Recognize the common red flags
Watch for job offers with no real interview process, requests to pay upfront for training or equipment, requests for your bank details before you've formally started, or communication only through text/chat apps rather than a company email address.
Step 2: Verify the company independently
Search the company name plus 'scam' or 'reviews,' and try to find the job listing on the company's own official careers page rather than trusting the listing alone.
Step 3: Stop all communication and never send money or personal documents
Once you suspect it's fake, stop responding, and never send money, banking details, or copies of ID documents, even if they claim it's for 'background checks' or 'equipment.'
Step 4: Report it to the platform it appeared on
Report the fake listing to the job board, social media platform, or messaging app where you encountered it so it can be taken down.
Step 5: Report it to the FTC or your national fraud reporting body
File a report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov (US) or your country's equivalent (Action Fraud in the UK, CAFC in Canada, Scamwatch in Australia) to help authorities track the pattern.