Career
Recognising an employment scam before you reply
Employment scams follow a small number of scripts, and each has a tell that appears before any money moves.
The first pattern is paying to work: an offer conditional on buying equipment, software, training or a starter kit, often from a supplier the 'employer' names. Legitimate employers provide what the job requires. Money flowing from worker to employer at the start is the signal.
The second is the overpayment script. A cheque arrives for more than expected and you are asked to forward the difference. The cheque clears provisionally, is later returned as fraudulent, and the money you forwarded is gone and is yours to repay.
The third is the credential or data harvest: an interview conducted entirely over chat, an immediate offer without a real conversation, then requests for banking details and identity documents for 'onboarding' before anything is signed. Those details are collected for their own sake.
Two checks catch nearly all of it. Contact the company through a number you found yourself rather than one you were given, and ask whether the role and the recruiter exist. And treat any request to move money, in any direction, as the end of the conversation.
What to do next. Verify the employer through contact details you found independently, and never pay for a job or forward funds from a cheque.
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