The offer letter had the right logo, the right tone, even a real employee’s name signing it. The “recruiter” asked for a ₦45,000 “equipment processing fee” before the laptop could ship. The company was real. The recruiter, the job, and the laptop never were.
A remote job can be entirely genuine even when the employer sits in another country — but that same distance makes impersonation easy. A fake recruiter can copy a real company name, produce professional-looking documents, and run a full interview over messaging apps without ever being caught out.
Find the Vacancy on the Company’s Own Site — Not the Link They Sent
Type the company’s website address yourself and open the actual careers page. Search for the same title, location, and reference number. If the role isn’t listed there, contact the company through an independently verified address — not the one in the message that reached you.
Check the Recruiter, Not Just the Company
Compare the email domain against the official company domain — exactly. Search the recruiter’s name and role. Be cautious when every communication comes from a free email account, a brand-new social media profile, or an unrelated messaging number that doesn’t match the company at all.
Search the Exact Wording of the Advert
Search the company name alongside words like “scam,” “complaint,” and “fake job.” Copy a distinctive sentence from the job advert directly into a search engine — scammers frequently reuse identical wording across dozens of fake postings for different “companies.”
Never Pay to Get a Job — Full Stop
An application fee, an equipment deposit, mandatory paid training, or a background-check payment is a serious red flag every time. Be especially cautious if a recruiter sends you a cheque or transfer and then instructs you to buy equipment or return part of the money — that specific pattern is a well-known scam, not an unusual onboarding process.
Guard Your Documents at First Contact
A normal application needs a CV and portfolio. A passport, bank login, card details, or full identity file should never be required this early. Ask why the information is needed, how it will be protected, and when it’s normally collected in a legitimate hiring process.
Verify the Offer Letter Itself
Check the company name, registered address, role, compensation, start date, and legal employer named in the letter. Confirm the offer through an official company contact before signing anything or sending sensitive information — a real logo proves nothing on its own.
Six Warning Signs Worth Trusting
- High pay for simple work, with no real interview
- Pressure to act immediately, no time to verify
- A job offer for a role you never applied to
- Requests for cryptocurrency, gift cards, or money transfers
- Instructions to keep the offer secret from others
- A company domain and email domain that don’t actually match
Verify the vacancy, the recruiter, and the company independently, every time. A genuine employer never objects to careful checks — and never requires payment for the promise of a job.