Do not upload your passport or send money until you have independently confirmed four things: the employer exists and confirms the role through contact details you found yourself; the recruiter is licensed in the relevant jurisdiction; the specific vacancy is authorised where that system exists; and the visa and work conditions match the destination government’s current rules. Treat an unsolicited approach, pressure to act today, an early fee, a request to receive or forward money, or an unexplained demand for identity documents as a reason to pause—not as proof by itself, but as a serious warning.
A polished offer letter, a real company name, or a familiar-looking agency logo can be copied. Verification has to follow the route you would actually use: the destination’s immigration and labour authorities, your origin country’s migrant-worker authority where applicable, and direct employer contact obtained independently. There is no worldwide rule that makes every candidate-paid cost illegal or sets one universal document timeline; the lawful answer depends on your countries, occupation, visa category and recruitment system.
Start by stopping the clock
Scammers try to turn a decision that needs checking into a race. Put the offer on hold, save the message and attachments, and tell the sender that you will respond after independent checks. Do not click a supplied “verification” link, call only the number in the message, or let a deadline force a transfer.
The UK Home Office says fraudulent offers can include convincing documents and demands for visa-related payments. Its guidance also notes that official UK government websites end in .gov.uk; a similar-looking address is not an official domain. Read the full warning at GOV.UK’s fraud, tricks and scams guidance.
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Preserve evidence before contact
- Keep the original email with full headers if your mail service allows it, the phone number, usernames, URLs, payment instructions and every attachment.
- Record the job title, employer name, work location, salary, proposed start date, visa type and every requested fee.
- Do not edit screenshots in a way that removes dates, account names or payment details; those details may help an authority investigate.
Is the employer real?
Confirm the employer through a route that the recruiter did not provide. Search for the organisation yourself, type its web address rather than following the offer’s link, and use a published HR or recruitment contact. Ask whether the named vacancy, location, pay and recruiter are genuine. A response from an independently listed corporate address or switchboard is stronger evidence than a reply to the address that first contacted you.
A practical independent-contact sequence
- Find the employer’s official website using an independent search or a government/company register appropriate to that country.
- Compare the legal name, physical address and telephone details in the offer with the employer’s own site and public records. Differences need an explanation; do not assume they are harmless.
- Call or email the published HR or recruitment channel. Do not ask the recruiter to “patch you through” or rely on a number supplied in a messaging app.
- Give the employer the vacancy reference, recruiter’s name and proposed worksite, and ask whether it authorised that person to recruit internationally.
- Save the employer’s answer, including the date and the address or number used. If the employer cannot confirm the role, stop before sending documents or money.
This independent contact is a verification method, not a universal legal formality. Small businesses may use an external agency, but they should still be able to confirm the exact position and the agency relationship through a contact you found separately.
Check for impersonation
Compare the sender’s domain letter by letter with the employer’s real domain. Free-mail addresses, extra hyphens, misspellings, look-alike characters and “reply-to” addresses that differ from the visible sender deserve scrutiny. A copied logo or a PDF with a signature proves nothing about who sent it. Do not open unexpected attachments on a device containing sensitive files; ask the employer to confirm the attachment’s contents through the independently found channel.
Is the message really from the authority or service it names?
Some frauds borrow the name of a real public service. If a message claims to be from EURES or another employment network, verify the contact details against that service’s own information rather than the message. The European Labour Authority’s “How to spot fraudulent job offers and misinformation” guidance (15 June 2023) warns about requests to forward or receive money and about submitting financial information through online forms.
Use a clean browser session
- Enter the authority’s address manually or find it through a government portal you already trust.
- Locate its contact, office or service-provider page and compare the sender’s email domain, telephone number and case reference format.
- Ask whether the message, vacancy number or named representative exists. Do not forward your passport while asking this first question.
An authority may not disclose personal information about a recruiter or employer to an unrelated caller. That does not make the offer genuine; it means you should follow the authority’s published process and provide only the information it requests through its verified channel.
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Is the recruiter licensed, and is this exact vacancy approved?
These are separate checks. A recruiter can have a licence and still advertise a job it was not authorised to fill. Conversely, a real vacancy does not prove that the intermediary contacting you is licensed. Search the current labour or migration authority’s register for the recruiter’s legal name, licence status, expiry and permitted activities. Then search for the specific job order, vacancy or demand letter if that jurisdiction maintains such a record.
The Philippine distinction
Philippine authorities explicitly distinguish agency licensing from approval of a particular opening. The Philippine Information Agency’s report on a DMW-CAR warning explains why both checks matter: verify the recruiter’s licence and the job order. An archived POEA release likewise directed applicants to confirm offers through the agency’s verification system and warned about early payments: POEA notice dated 24 June 2020.
POEA is a legacy name in some archived material; follow the current Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) portal and instructions for a present-day Philippine application. Do not assume that a Philippine registry, or any other country’s registry, works worldwide.
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What to record from a registry
- The recruiter’s exact legal name, licence number, status and expiry date.
- Whether the licence covers overseas placement, your destination and your occupation.
- The employer’s name and the vacancy or job-order number, if listed.
- The authority’s date of access and any restriction, suspension or warning shown.
If the recruiter says a licence is “pending,” offers to use a partner’s licence, or refuses to give a legal name, do not treat a logo, testimonial or social-media following as a substitute for a current official record.
Does the visa and work route make sense?
Check the route on the destination government’s immigration and labour websites, then check your origin country’s emigration or migrant-worker requirements where applicable. Confirm the visa category, sponsorship or employer-approval rules, occupation requirements, health checks, criminal-record checks, language or registration requirements, and who is allowed to submit each application.
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Sector rules can add another layer
For health and social-care jobs in the UK, the Home Office publishes sector-specific instructions and fraud cautions in “Part 1: applying for health and social care jobs in the UK from abroad.” A recruiter’s statement that “the visa is guaranteed” is not a substitute for checking the current route, the sponsoring organisation and any professional-registration requirement.
Build a route-consistency check
| Item | What to compare | What a mismatch means |
|---|---|---|
| Job and occupation | Offer title and duties versus the occupation named in official visa guidance | Ask the employer to explain the classification; do not pay while it is unresolved. |
| Sponsor or employer | Employer named in the offer versus the sponsor or approved-employer information required by the destination | The offer may not support the promised visa route. |
| Work location | Contract location versus the location permitted by the visa and labour rules | A genuine company can still be offering the wrong route for that site. |
| Applicant obligations | Official application steps, tests, health checks and documents versus the recruiter’s list | Missing or invented steps require confirmation from the authority. |
| Fees | Official fees and payment recipient versus the amounts and account in the offer | Never infer legality from the fact that a fee has a familiar name. |
Rules change and differ by nationality, destination and occupation. Use the current official page for your exact route rather than a generic social-media checklist.
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Write down each requested amount, the stated purpose, the deadline, the recipient, the payment method and whether an official receipt or legal basis is supplied. A demand to pay an individual, use a remittance centre, buy a promised interview or seminar slot, or transfer money before the employer has confirmed the vacancy deserves independent confirmation.
Jurisdiction-specific warnings
- United Kingdom: UK Home Office guidance says a legitimate employer would not ask you to pay to secure a UK visa. This statement concerns the UK visa context, not every possible employment cost in every country; read the official guidance.
- Philippines: The 2020 POEA release describes an early electronic-transfer demand as a strong indication of a scam and says worker fees collected through legitimate processes should have official receipts. Apply that warning to the Philippine context and verify current DMW procedures.
- European Union recruitment messages: EURES warns against arrangements involving forwarding or receiving money and against supplying financial information through online forms. See the European Labour Authority guidance.
Candidate-paid costs can exist under some routes, so do not label every fee illegal without checking the relevant authority. The combination of an unexplained fee, urgency, an individual recipient and no independently verifiable legal basis is the danger signal.
Payment questions that must have clear answers
- What exact government, licensing or service charge does the amount cover?
- Which official page sets or permits that charge?
- Who is legally entitled to receive it—the authority, employer or licensed intermediary?
- Will the receipt name the legal entity and identify the application or job order?
- What happens if the visa or job is refused, and where is the refund policy?
If the sender will not answer these questions through an independently verified channel, keep your money and stop the process.
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When is it safe to share a passport or identity document?
Do not send a passport, national identity card or other sensitive document until you have established that the recipient is genuine and that the request has a legitimate, route-specific purpose. Australian Scamwatch gives the same practical caution in its jobs and employment scams guidance: do not send passport or identity documents unless you are certain the recipient is genuine.
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- Confirm the employer or licensed intermediary through independent contact, not the address that requested the document.
- Confirm which official application or employment step requires it and whether the recipient is authorised to collect it.
- Ask how it will be stored, who can access it, how long it will be retained and how to correct or delete it where applicable.
- Use the verified submission channel specified by the authority or employer; do not improvise by sending it to a personal mailbox or chat account.
No source establishes a universal stage at which every legitimate employer may request every document. A watermark, redaction or upload portal may reduce some risks, but none proves that the recipient is legitimate. Follow the exact instructions of the verified authority for any permitted copy or annotation.
Never forward money as part of “payroll”
A common job scam sends a check, asks you to deposit it and then instructs you to return part of the money, buy gift cards or pay a third party. The US Federal Trade Commission explains in its Job Scams article that the check can later bounce, leaving the job seeker responsible for the money sent back even though the balance briefly appeared in the account.
EURES also warns about offers that ask applicants to receive or forward funds. A real payroll arrangement does not require a new hire to act as a money-transfer intermediary. Do not withdraw or return funds from an unfamiliar check, overpayment or cryptocurrency transfer. Ask your bank’s fraud department for instructions and preserve the transaction records.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Compare two offers or recruiters without guessing
When you have more than one route, score each one on the same evidence. The framework below is a decision aid synthesised from the official warnings; it does not mean that every country operates an identical registry or fee system.
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| Decision axis | Offer A | Offer B | Evidence to require |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recruiter identity and active licence | Record the legal name, licence and expiry; write “not stated” if the authority does not publish a value. | Record the legal name, licence and expiry; write “not stated” if unavailable. | Current official register for the relevant jurisdiction. |
| Exact vacancy approval | Job-order or vacancy number, or “not stated” where no such system is published. | Job-order or vacancy number, or “not stated.” | Authority’s vacancy or demand-letter system, if one exists. |
| Employer confirmation | Date, independently found contact and person or department confirming the role. | Date, independently found contact and person or department confirming the role. | Employer’s published HR or recruitment channel. |
| Visa and work eligibility | Official route, sponsor and occupation match. | Official route, sponsor and occupation match. | Destination immigration and labour authorities. |
| Fees | Amount, timing, recipient, method, official basis and receipt. | Amount, timing, recipient, method, official basis and receipt. | Current route guidance and regulator instructions. |
| Documents | Each document, purpose, recipient and verified submission channel. | Each document, purpose, recipient and verified submission channel. | Authority or employer confirmation obtained independently. |
Do not award points for promises such as “guaranteed visa,” “fast-track slot” or “exclusive employer access.” Those are marketing claims until an official source and the employer independently confirm the underlying facts.
Warning signs that require a pause
- The approach was unsolicited or arrived through a personal social-media account.
- You are told to decide within hours, keep the offer secret or avoid contacting the employer.
- The sender asks for money before a verifiable vacancy, contract and route are established.
- Payment must go to an individual, a remittance service, cryptocurrency wallet or unrelated company.
- The recruiter refuses to provide a legal name, current licence number or vacancy reference.
- The employer’s website, email domain, address or telephone number cannot be matched independently.
- The job requires you to receive, deposit or forward funds.
- The sender asks for a passport or financial information through an unverified form.
- The promised visa category, sponsor, salary or work location conflicts with official guidance.
One sign can have an innocent explanation; several together justify ending contact until an authority or the employer resolves them. Do not negotiate away a warning merely because the message contains correct facts about the company.
If verification fails or you already sent something
Before any payment or document disclosure
- Stop replying and do not click further links.
- Report the suspected offer to the relevant labour, migration or consumer-protection authority using contact details you obtained independently.
- Notify the real employer or service whose identity was used so it can warn other applicants.
- Keep the evidence package: original messages, headers, URLs, attachments, phone numbers, receipts and account details.
After money was sent
- Contact your bank, card issuer, remittance company or cryptocurrency provider immediately and ask what recall or fraud-freeze options remain.
- Tell the authority or police how the payment was made, when, to whom and under what instructions.
- Do not send an additional “release,” “tax” or “recovery” payment to anyone promising to retrieve the first amount.
After identity documents were sent
- Contact the issuing passport or identity authority and ask about replacement, cancellation, monitoring or protective steps available in your country.
- Inform your bank and relevant identity or credit-monitoring services if financial information was included.
- Change reused passwords, enable multifactor authentication and watch for unexpected account or mobile-service changes.
- Report the impersonation to the genuine employer, recruiter regulator and police or cybercrime channel identified by your country’s official authorities.
Reporting channels differ by country, so use the current official contact for your location and the route involved rather than relying on a generic international form.
A short decision rule
Proceed only when the employer confirms the exact job through independently found contact details, the recruiter and vacancy pass the relevant official checks, the visa route matches current government guidance, every fee has a documented legal basis and receipt, and each document request has a verified purpose and channel. If any of those elements remains unconfirmed—or if the offer requires urgency, early payment or money forwarding—pause and seek the responsible authority before sharing anything further.
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