Fake Overseas Job Offers: How to Check a Recruiter Before You Pay (and Where to Report)

Quick answer: Never pay anyone who cannot show a valid licence, a written contract and an official receipt. Some countries let licensed recruiters charge only a small, legally capped fee (in India, no more than Rs 30,000 plus GST, against a receipt), and the United Nations does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment. Check the employer on its own official website, check the recruiter on your government's licence register, and never send a passport scan to someone you have only met on WhatsApp, Telegram or a free email address. If you have already paid, contact your bank or wallet provider and the police straight away.

Readers have told us about a job offer that appeared to come from the United Nations: a written "interview", a request for a passport copy, then a series of fees for an apartment, equipment and a police certificate. The person lost about USD 11,400. Others paid a "UAE immigration agency" for a job in Europe and the agency disappeared, and a worker in Qatar was recruited through a chat-app contact. The details differ, but the pattern is the same.

What to do in 3 steps

1. Stop and do not pay. Pause every payment, document upload and "urgent" deadline until you have checked the offer.
2. Verify the employer and the recruiter separately. Find the employer on its official website (typed in yourself, not from the message) and the recruiter on your government's licence register, listed below.
3. Keep the evidence and report. Save chats, receipts, numbers and names, then contact your bank or wallet provider and the police or labour authority.

Red flags

• Fees before a contract. "Visa processing", "medical", "registration", "security deposit", "equipment" or "accommodation" fees asked for up front. In an ILO study of 110 countries, 69 had laws prohibiting recruitment fees or costs for at least some workers, and 45 more regulated them.
• Chat-app or free-email recruiters. A "company" that only uses WhatsApp, Telegram or a Gmail/Yahoo address, with no office you can visit.
• Salary far above the market for little experience, or a job offered without a real interview.
• Pressure. "Only two places left", "pay today or lose the visa".
• Early requests for passport scans, bank details or photos before a contract exists.
• A well-known name. International organisations and large companies are impersonated constantly. The UN says it "does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process (application, interview, processing, training)" and asks applicants to apply only through careers.un.org (UN fraud alert).

How to check a recruiter

• Employer. Open the employer's official website yourself and look for the same vacancy in its careers section. If it is not listed, call the organisation using a number from that site, not from the message.
• Recruitment agency licence. Search the register in your country (below). Check that the licence is current, that the name and address match, and that the specific job or demand letter is approved where your country requires it.
• Embassy or consulate. Ask the destination country's embassy, or your own country's labour attache there, whether the employer and visa type are genuine.
• Contract. Insist on a written contract in a language you understand, signed before you pay or travel. Never hand over your original passport.
• Receipts. Pay only against an official receipt, by traceable methods, to the agency's registered account.

Check by country

These are the official bodies as we understand them. Always type the address yourself rather than following a link sent to you.

• Nepal: Department of Foreign Employment. Licensed agencies: recruitment agency search; complaints: complaint and case management system (free registration required).
• India: check the "List of active RA" (registered recruiting agents) on the Ministry of External Affairs eMigrate portal, or the MEA's overseas employment page. Complaints: the MEA's Pravasi Bharatiya Sahayata Kendra on 1800 11 3090 (toll-free from India) or the Protector General of Emigrants at pge@mea.gov.in.
• Pakistan: Bureau of Emigration & Overseas Employment, Use the "List and Contacts of OEPs" page under the site's OEPs menu to check an Overseas Employment Promoter's licence.
• Bangladesh: the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment links the recruiting agency list kept by the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET); some browsers may show a security warning on BMET's site. Complaints can be filed through the government grievance system at grs.gov.bd.
• Sri Lanka: search licensed agencies on the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment's registered recruitment agency search. SLBFE hotline: 1989 or +94 11 2 880 500.
• Philippines: Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), formerly the POEA. Check both the licensed recruitment agencies and the approved job orders on its website.

For police and cybercrime reporting in other countries, see our directory of cyber agencies.

Already paid?

• Contact your bank or wallet immediately and ask to report fraud and, where possible, recall the transfer. Speed matters, so do it the same day.
• Report to the police or your country's cybercrime or labour authority, and to the licensing body above if a licensed agency was involved.
• Keep evidence: screenshots of chats, job offers, numbers, account details, receipts and any ID copies you sent.
• Protect your identity. If you sent a passport copy, tell the passport authority and watch for misuse. Change passwords on any account you shared.

Beware recovery scams

After a loss, many victims are contacted by people who promise to get the money back for an advance fee, claim to be police, lawyers or "blockchain recovery" experts, or say a court needs a "release payment". Real authorities do not charge to recover stolen money (the FBI says "law enforcement does not charge victims a fee for investigating crimes") and do not contact you first on a chat app. Treat any such approach as the same scammers returning.

If you have been targeted, you are not alone. See our country-by-country cybercrime help hub for step-by-step reporting guides.