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A person holds a tablet displaying a "Now Hiring" sign. The text above reads, "If it sounds too good to be true, it just might be."

Avoiding Employment Scams

Hiring and recruitment scams can harm both professionals and organizations. Follow the tips below to protect yourself and others.

Fake job postings and recruitment scams are unfortunately becoming more common and increasingly sophisticated. These schemes can steal your personal information, cost you money, damage your professional reputation, and waste your time. 

They have even expanded to include foreign intelligence services impersonating legitimate employers to recruit individuals with access to sensitive information or experience in areas like government, military, science and technology to unknowingly serve as intelligence sources, harming both job seekers and organizations.

What to Watch Out For

  • Unsolicited outreach from “recruiters” and job offers from companies you never applied to
  • Requests for personal information early in the process
  • Interviews conducted only through text or messaging apps
  • Email addresses that don’t match the company’s domain
  • Job offers that come unusually fast or without an interview
  • Requests for payments, “training fees,” or equipment purchases
  • Poor grammar, vague job descriptions, or unrealistic salaries

Tips for Job Seekers

  • Check the official company website to confirm the job is posted there.
  • Verify the recruiter’s identity on LinkedIn or through the company’s HR department.
  • Look up the company’s email domain—legitimate organizations rarely use free email services.
  • Call the company directly using the number from their official website, not the one provided in the message.
  • Search for reviews or scam reports related to the job listing or recruiter.
  • Trust your instincts. If anything feels off, pause and investigate further.
  • If applicable, you can choose to report suspicious activity to the platform the job was listed on and the company being impersonated. You can also file a complaint with the N.C. Department of Justice and the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

Tips for Organizations

  • Use only official email domains, telephone numbers, and social media accounts to advertise positions and communicate with candidates
  • Monitor employment and social media websites and report unauthorized listings
  • Provide clear guidance to job seekers on official hiring channels
  • Warn candidates not to respond to outreach from unauthorized sources
  • Report any suspected state-sponsored impersonation to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov

Staying aware and informed is always your best defense. Visit it.nc.gov/cybersecurenc for additional cybersecurity tips and resources.

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