Skip to main content
Follow us
Maseera
← Maseera blog

Job search

How to Spot a Fake Job Posting: 9 Signs Before You Apply

Not every job ad leads to a job. Some are expired, some collect CVs to sell, and some exist to take money from people who need work. You can catch most of them in three minutes. Here are the signs, the check, and what to do if you have already replied.

Published

The 9 signs

One sign alone is a reason to look closer. Two or more is a reason to walk away.

  • They ask you to pay: a registration fee, a visa fee, a training deposit, a “refundable” amount. A real employer never charges you to apply.
  • No employer is named, or the name cannot be found anywhere else.
  • The contact is a personal e-mail address or a chat number only, with no company address.
  • The pay is far above what the role normally earns, for little experience.
  • The link is shortened or sends you to a form instead of the company’s or a job board’s page.
  • They offer the job without an interview, or after a few chat messages.
  • They ask early for a passport copy, bank details or a card number.
  • The description is vague: no tasks, no requirements, no location.
  • They push you to decide today.

A 3-minute check before you apply

  • Search the company name with the job title. A real opening usually appears on the company’s own careers page or on more than one known job board.
  • Look at the posting date. A role posted months ago is probably filled.
  • Open the link and read the address bar. The address should belong to the employer or to a job board you know.
  • Search the recruiter’s name with the company on LinkedIn.

Closed is not the same as fake

Most “broken” job links are honest postings that have closed. Employers fill roles and forget to remove the ad, and job boards keep copies for weeks. It costs you time, not money. The fix is the same check: look at the date, and prefer the employer’s own page when the job is listed in more than one place.

If you already sent your details

  • Sent a CV only: no harm beyond more unwanted messages. Stop replying.
  • Sent ID or passport copies: watch for accounts opened in your name and report it to the authorities in your country if anything appears.
  • Sent bank or card details, or paid money: call your bank at once to block the card and dispute the payment.
  • Report the ad on the site where you found it, so the next person does not lose a week.

How Maseera handles this

Maseera shares listings from other job sites and is not the employer. Before a job goes on the jobs page or the channels, its link is opened, and dead links, postings that ask for money and links that are not a job page are left out. Every job has a “Report a problem with this job” button, and where the same job is listed on other sites, they are shown under it. No filter catches everything, so keep the three-minute check as a habit.

Browse checked job listings

FAQ

Is it normal to pay for a visa or medical test?

A legitimate employer pays its own recruitment costs or deducts nothing before you start. A request to transfer money before a contract is the clearest warning sign there is.

A recruiter contacted me on a chat app. Is that a scam?

Not always. Small employers in the region do use chat apps. Judge by the rest: a named company, a real interview, and no request for money.

Why do I keep finding jobs that are already closed?

Job boards copy listings from each other and remove them late. Check the posting date and look for the same job on the employer’s own site.

Should I apply if the company name is confidential?

Some real recruiters hide the client’s name. Apply through a known job board only, and share nothing beyond your CV until you know who the employer is.