Is This Job Posting Fake? A Quick Checklist

A job posting is likely fake if it asks for money, requests sensitive personal info before an offer, or pushes you to a messaging app and away from real interviews. Scammers post thousands of fake listings to harvest data and cash, and they're getting better at looking legit. Here's a fast checklist you can run before you ever hit apply.

The 60-second checklist

Run these five checks before you spend any real effort on a listing. If two or more fail, walk away.

• Search the company name + "scam" or "reviews." Real companies have a footprint: a website, a LinkedIn page, employees, news. A blank slate or a wall of fraud complaints is your answer.
• Check the email domain. A recruiter from "Google" writing from hr.google.recruit@gmail.com is not from Google. Legit companies use their own domain (@company.com).
• Find the job on the company's own careers page. If the role exists on LinkedIn or a job board but not on the employer's actual site, be skeptical.
• Read the salary against the role. "$45/hour, no experience, work from home, flexible hours" for vague "data entry" is bait.
• Look at how they want to talk. Real hiring uses email, phone, and video. "Let's continue on Telegram" is a flashing red light.

Red flags that mean stop

Some signals are bad enough on their own to kill a listing. If you see any of these, don't engage.

The fake-check scam deserves a special callout: you get hired fast, they send a check to buy a laptop or supplies from a "vendor," you deposit it and wire the money. Days later the check bounces and you're out the cash. Never move money for an employer. Ever.

Subtler signs the posting is off

Not every fake is obvious. The careful ones get the email domain right and build a fake website. Look for the smaller tells.

• Generic, copy-pasted descriptions with no specifics about the team, the product, or the actual day-to-day work.
• Typos and odd grammar in a posting from a supposedly large, polished company.
• A job title that doesn't match the duties ("Administrative Assistant" that's secretly reshipping packages).
• No named hiring manager or recruiter, just a role and an email.
• An interview over text only, with no voice or video at any point.
• A reverse-image search on the recruiter's photo turns up a stock image or someone else entirely.

When something feels off but you can't name it, that instinct is data. Cross-check before you share anything.

Fake posting vs. ghost job vs. real-but-slow

Three different things often get lumped together, and the right response is different for each.

A scam wants something from you now. A ghost job is a real employer's posting for a role that may be on hold, used to build a pipeline, or left up out of habit. If you keep applying and hearing nothing back, the cause is often ghost jobs rather than fraud, and understanding why you're getting no response helps you stop blaming yourself.

What to do if you spot a fake

• Don't reply, don't click, don't send anything. Disengaging is the win.
• Report it. Flag the listing on the job board (LinkedIn, Indeed, etc.) and report to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. If you lost money, file with your bank immediately.
• Lock down your data if you already shared sensitive info: freeze your credit, change passwords, watch your accounts.
• Move on quickly. One fake listing isn't a sign your search is doomed. It's noise to filter out.

Protect your time, not just your money

Most fake postings won't drain your bank account, but every one you investigate steals time and momentum. The fix is a system: track where you've applied so you can spot patterns, avoid re-applying to dead listings, and notice which sources send you junk. A simple job application tracker turns a chaotic inbox into something you can actually reason about.

When you do find real, legit roles, the slow part is filling out the same fields over and over across Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, and the rest. JobRizzer autofills those forms and tailors your resume to each job (you review and submit every field yourself, no auto-submit), so you spend your energy vetting opportunities instead of retyping your work history. Spend the time you save being skeptical, because that's the skill that actually protects you.