How can I tell if a job advert is a scam?

A real employer never asks you for money to get a job: not for training, a DBS check, equipment, a uniform or a visa. Be wary of an offer made without an interview, pay far above the going rate for easy work, a recruiter who only uses WhatsApp, Telegram or a free email address, and anybody asking for your bank details or passport before a written offer. Check the company on Companies House and find its own website, then contact it through the details there, not the ones in the advert. If something feels wrong, report it to JobsAware, or to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 (in Scotland, Police Scotland on 101).

Signs to stop and check

Any request for money. Training fees, a DBS check you pay the recruiter for, starter kits, uniforms, visa costs. A real employer does not charge you to work for them.
A job offer without an interview, or an "interview" that is only a text chat.
Pay that is too good for simple work from home, or payment through your own bank account to "process" money for them.
Contact only by WhatsApp, Telegram or a free email address (gmail, outlook) for a company that should have its own.
Your bank details, passport or National Insurance number asked for before a written offer.
Pressure to decide today.

How to check an employer is real

Search the company on Companies House. Look for an active company with a matching name and address.
Find the company's own website yourself, not through a link in the advert, and check the job is on it or that the contact details match.
Contact them through the details on their own site and ask whether the vacancy is real.

Where to report it

JobsAware, the UK's free service for job scams and unfair recruitment.
Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, report fraud to Police Scotland on 101.
The job board it was on, so they can take it down.

Recruited only ever writes to an address an employer published on its own advert or website, and never guesses one. You can check an advert's contact details here.

Where these numbers come from

86 cold emails to real UK employers over four weeks, sent by one person looking for work, logged as they went. 22 replies. The full method and every table is in the playbook, free, no account.

They are engineering and technician roles in Scotland, so a different trade may behave differently. Where a row is thin it says so on the row.

Since then: 171 applications across 137 employers, 32 replies, 19%. Live, and updated after every run.

Type a company, get the real address Other questions

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