How do I tell if a job posting is a scam?

You get a message on LinkedIn. The role pays $85,000, is fully remote, and requires no experience. The interviewer is friendly, the offer letter looks real, and they need your bank details to set up payroll. You are not getting hired. You are getting scammed.

Job scams are now the fastest-growing fraud category tracked by the FTC. They target new grads specifically — people with less interview experience, more financial pressure, and a genuine need for that first break. The scams are not sloppy. They use real company names, fake email domains one letter off from the real one, and professional-looking portals. Knowing the signals is the difference between losing money and walking away.

What a job scam actually is

A job scam is a fraudulent job posting or outreach designed to extract money or personal information from applicants. Unlike ghost jobs — which come from real companies with misleading listings — scams come from criminals impersonating employers. The goal is identity theft, bank fraud, or both.

The FTC classifies business and job opportunity scams as a major fraud category. In 2024 alone, reported losses in this category hit $750.6 million, with the job-scam subcategory accounting for $501 million — a more than five-fold increase from 2020.

The six signals

1. 1
   Upfront payment required. No legitimate employer asks you to pay for training, equipment, background checks, or software before your first day. If the offer comes with a payment link, it is a scam. Period.
2. 2
   Pay that is too good for the work described. $80,000 for data entry with no experience, flexible hours, and no interview. The economics do not work. If the role promises above-market pay for below-market requirements, it is bait.
3. 3
   Vague or copy-pasted job description. Real postings name the team, the manager, the tech stack, and the outcomes. Scam postings use generic language — "fast-growing company," "unlimited earning potential" — with no specifics you can verify.
4. 4
   Unprofessional communication. Recruiters who message you at 2 AM, use excessive emojis, or refuse to move to a video call are not hiring managers. They are script-runners. A real hiring process has structure: phone screen, video interview, reference check.
5. 5
   Pressure to decide immediately. "We need your decision by end of day" is a pressure tactic. Real companies give you time to review an offer. Scammers want you to act before you think.
6. 6
   Personal data requested before an offer. No employer needs your Social Security number, bank account details, or copies of your ID before you have signed an offer letter. If they ask early, they are harvesting data.

How common they are

$501M

in reported job scam losses in 2024 — up from $90M in 2020

FTC

3x

increase in job scam reports between 2020 and 2024

FTC

51%

of fraud complaints from consumers 19 and younger reported losing money

FTC / Fraud.org

What to do if you spot one

Do not engage. Do not reply. Do not click links. Screenshot everything — the posting, the messages, the email headers — and report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to the job platform where you found it. If you have already shared personal information, freeze your credit at all three bureaus immediately.

The strongest defense is verification. Cross-check the posting on the employer's official careers page. Call the company's main line and ask for the hiring manager by name. If the role does not exist on their site or the manager has no record of it, you have your answer.

Where this leaves you

Scams prey on hope. They know you need a job, they know you are stressed, and they know that a friendly message with a big number feels like relief. The antidote is not cynicism. It is verification. Every time.

The board filters for this: salary on every listing, nothing older than 7 days, US-only roles posted directly by employers. You apply on the employer's own system — no third-party portals, no mystery recruiters.

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