Is this remote job legit? A 10-minute check

Is this remote job legit? No single check can prove it. But the common scams fail the same few tests. This guide turns the advice of the US FTC, Australia’s Scamwatch and the UK’s Report Fraud into eight checks. The list and the order are ours. The advice behind each check is theirs. “About ten minutes” is our own estimate. Take longer if you need to.

Do these before you reply with documents, send a photo of your ID, give bank details, or pay anything. The same checks apply to work from home jobs in general. For the warning signs behind them, see job posting red flags.

1. How did the offer reach you?

Did you apply, or did someone contact you first? Scamwatch lists an unexpected approach by text or by chat apps such as WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram as a warning sign. The FTC describes scam recruiters who contact people by email or text with remote job offers. An unexpected offer is not proof of a scam, but it is a reason to go through every other check.

2. Look at the sender’s address

Is it a company address, or a free one such as Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail? The FTC and Report Fraud both say real recruiters usually write from a company address. If the company is real, find its own website yourself and compare the address.

3. Search the company and the recruiter

Search their names with words like “scam”, “review” or “complaint”. The FTC suggests this. Be careful with glowing reviews and success stories. The FTC says they may be untrue or untypical, and that positive reviews may come from made-up profiles.

4. Check the organisation really exists

Report Fraud says to check official records. In the UK that includes Companies House. In other countries, use your own country’s official company register. Then contact the organisation using details from that official record, not details from the message.

5. Contact the company yourself

Use a phone number or website you already know is real, or one you found yourself. The FTC and Scamwatch both say this. Ask whether the job exists and whether this person works for them.

6. Are you being asked for money?

Stop at any request to pay for the job, training, equipment, a recruitment fee, a visa fee or a security check. The FTC says honest employers will never ask you to pay to get a job. Stop too if you are sent a check and told to send part back, or told to top up an account with your own money or cryptocurrency. The sources list all of these as warning signs.

7. Are you being asked for private details too early?

The FTC says real employers do not ask for ID or bank details until they have interviewed and hired you. Scamwatch says never to send your passport or identity documents unless you are certain the employer is genuine. Report Fraud warns about requests for bank details “to set up salary payments” from a fake agency.

8. Is anyone pushing you?

Scamwatch says a real offer will not need a fast decision. Be wary of no interview, high pay for little work, and anything that moves money or parcels for someone else. If someone is rushing you, that is a reason to stop and check.

If a check fails

Stop, and do not send anything else. If you have already paid or shared details, contact your bank or card provider at once, as Scamwatch and Report Fraud advise. Then report it: ReportFraud.ftc.gov in the US, Scamwatch in Australia, Report Fraud in the UK. Elsewhere, ask your bank or your national police or consumer agency.