How do you spot a fake job posting on Indeed?
You spot a fake job posting on Indeed by checking the employer outside Indeed: find the same job on the company’s own careers page, confirm the recruiter’s email ends in the company’s real domain, and refuse any step that involves your money. Indeed’s own guidelines for a safe job search say you should never have to send money to apply for a job on Indeed, warn about offers made without an interview, especially through chat apps, and advise never to send or receive money for an employer.
| Red flag | What the scam looks like | What a real employer does |
|---|---|---|
| Payment of any kind | Training fee, starter kit, background-check fee, placement fee | Pays you; the FTC says honest employers never ask you to pay to get a job |
| A check to deposit | A check for equipment; you forward part of the money | Ships equipment or reimburses you through payroll |
| Chat-only hiring | Interview by text on Telegram, WhatsApp or Hangouts | Interviews by video or in person |
| Free email address | hr.company.careers@gmail.com | Writes from the company’s own domain |
| Pay far above the market | Entry-level, few hours, high salary | Pays in line with similar roles |
| Vague job | No team, no manager, no location, no company details | Names the team, the office and the hiring manager |
| Early personal data | Bank details or ID before any offer | Asks for tax and bank forms after a signed offer |
Fake job postings on Indeed: what the listing itself looks like
Many fake job postings on Indeed look ordinary at first glance, so read the listing as an employer would write it. Real postings describe a team, a manager or department, concrete tasks, required experience and a location or a clear remote policy. Fake ones lean on the benefits: high weekly pay, flexible hours, “no experience needed”, immediate start.
- The company name in the listing does not match the company in the emails you receive afterwards.
- The job is generic (“data entry clerk”, “personal assistant”, “package handler”) and posted under a well-known brand that has no such role on its own site.
- The contact step pushes you off the platform at once, to a personal email, a chat app or a form on an unknown domain.
- The offer arrives within hours, before anyone has asked about your experience, and is followed by a request for your bank details “for payroll”.
If something looks wrong, use the report option on the listing so the platform can review it, and do not continue the conversation elsewhere.
How common are fake job postings?
Common enough that the FBI tracks them separately. Its 2025 Internet Crime Report lists 24,688 employment complaints with $362.9 million lost in 2025, against 20,044 complaints and $264.2 million in 2024. The FTC found that reports of task scams went from zero in 2020 to about 5,000 in 2023, then about 20,000 in the first half of 2024 alone, and that reported job scam losses topped $220 million in those six months (FTC, December 2024).
The four job scams behind most fake offers
Fake check scams
You are “hired”, then receive a check to buy a laptop or office supplies from a vendor the employer chooses. You deposit it and pay the vendor. Weeks later, the check bounces and you owe the bank the full amount. The FTC explains that funds showing in your account do not mean the check is good, and that fake checks often look real even to bank employees.
Equipment purchase scams
A variation without a check: you must buy the equipment yourself, from the employer’s “approved supplier”, and will be reimbursed later. Indeed’s career advice on job scams notes that it is highly uncommon for a legitimate employer to ask you to pay it directly for equipment.
Task scams
An unsolicited text or WhatsApp message offers paid “tasks”: rating products, liking videos, boosting apps. The first payouts are real, to build trust; then you must deposit money, usually crypto, to unlock the next set of tasks or withdraw your earnings. The FTC reported $41 million in crypto losses to job scams in the first half of 2024, nearly double the whole of 2023, and its advice is blunt: never pay anyone to get paid.
Reshipping and “payment processing” jobs
You receive parcels at home and forward them abroad, or receive money and pass it on. The FTC’s job scam page says reshipping goods is never a real job; the goods are usually bought with stolen cards. Moving money for an employer can make you a money mule, which Indeed’s guidelines also warn about.
How to spot a fake job on LinkedIn
LinkedIn adds verification signals you can read. A verification badge on a job post, according to LinkedIn Help, means the company has a verified page and the person who posted the job has verified that they work there; tapping it shows which checks were made (identity, workplace email, official company page). LinkedIn also says badges are not on every job and that a missing badge does not mean the information is incorrect or fraudulent.
- Open the recruiter’s profile: a recent account, few connections, no history at the company and a polished photo with no earlier copy online are warning signs. See how to spot a fake profile picture.
- Check that the job also appears on the company’s own careers page.
- Be wary when a recruiter moves you quickly from LinkedIn messages to Telegram or WhatsApp.
- Compare the company page with reality: a page with thousands of “employees” but no website older than a few months is suspicious.
Fake job offers by email and text
An offer that lands in your inbox or phone without an application is the riskiest kind. The FTC advises disregarding vague, unsolicited job offers by text or WhatsApp, since legitimate employers do not recruit that way. Check the sender address carefully: Indeed points out that most companies use an email address ending in their official website, and warns about misspellings and free email providers.
Read the domain after the @ the way you would read a website address. “careers-brandname.com” or “brandname-hr.net” is not brandname.com. If the email links to an application portal, apply the same caution: the portal’s domain should belong to the company or to a known applicant-tracking provider.
How to check the company behind a job offer
Scammers often borrow the name of a real company. The question is not “does this company exist?” but “is this offer really from it?”.
- 01Find the company’s website through a search engine, not through the link in the offer, and look for the job on its careers page.
- 02Compare the domain of the recruiter’s email with the website you found.
- 03Look up the domain of that email in ICANN Lookup. A domain registered a few weeks ago, used for a “global company”, is a red flag.
- 04Look the company up in its official registry (Companies House in the UK, Annuaire des Entreprises in France, the state register or EDGAR in the US) and check that it is active.
- 05If you are unsure, call the company’s main switchboard, found on its own site, and ask HR whether the role and the recruiter exist.
AnyFact’s Business Check runs most of these steps from the website address in the offer: domain age, the legal notice, registry lookups in France, the UK, for US public companies and for LEI holders, Google Safe Browsing and what the web says about the company, each with its source. It cannot tell you whether a particular recruiter works there; only the company can. For the company itself, see is this company legit; for the situation as a whole, checking job offers.
Business Check · Free preview
Got an offer from a company you don’t know? Check the website in the offer before you share your documents.
Interviews: chat-only, voice and video
A real employer wants to see and hear you. Indeed advises insisting on an in-person or video interview. Be equally careful when the interview is on video but feels off: the interviewer keeps the camera off, the voice does not match the profile, or you are asked to install an unfamiliar app to take part, which Indeed’s career advice lists among scam signs.
Voices and faces can now be generated. If you recorded a call with consent, the AI voice detector gives an indication of cloning and flags scam patterns in the transcript; for employers on the other side of the problem, see hiring and recruiting.
What to do if you applied to a fake job
- Stop all contact and do not deposit any check or forward any parcel or money.
- If you paid, call your bank or card issuer immediately.
- If you shared your ID, Social Security number or bank details, watch your accounts and your credit report.
- Report the posting on the job platform and report the scam: in the US to ReportFraud.ftc.gov and ic3.gov, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to Report Fraud. All channels are in how to report a scam.
Frequently asked questions
How can I tell if a job posting on Indeed is fake?
Find the same job on the company’s own careers page and check that the recruiter writes from the company’s domain. Walk away if you are asked to pay, deposit a check or buy equipment, or if the “interview” happens only by chat. Indeed’s guidelines say you should never have to send money to apply for a job on Indeed.
Do real employers send checks to buy equipment?
It is rare, and it is the classic setup of a fake check scam. The check bounces after you have paid the “vendor”, and you owe the bank the money, as the FTC explains. Real employers ship equipment or reimburse you through payroll.
What is a task scam?
A job offer, usually by text or WhatsApp, to complete online tasks such as rating products. Small early payments build trust, then you must deposit money, often crypto, to unlock more tasks or withdraw earnings. The FTC counted about 20,000 task scam reports in the first half of 2024.
Does a LinkedIn verification badge mean the job is real?
It means LinkedIn or a partner verified details about the company page and the poster, such as a work email or an ID. It is useful information, not a guarantee. LinkedIn also says that a job without a badge is not necessarily incorrect or fraudulent.
Is it a scam if the recruiter uses a Gmail address?
It is a strong warning sign for a company of any size. Indeed notes that most companies use an email address ending in their official website. Ask for confirmation from the company’s official address or switchboard before sending documents.
Can AnyFact check a job offer?
It can check the business behind the website named in the offer: domain age, legal notice, official registries where available, Google Safe Browsing and web reputation, each with its source. It cannot confirm that a specific recruiter works for that company; ask the company directly.