Safe Verification Guide
Our report tells you how risky a message looks. This page tells you how to prove who is really on the other end — using sources the sender cannot control. Work through the steps in order and stop at the first one that fails.
The one rule that prevents most scams
Never use contact details supplied inside the suspicious message. Every phone number, link and email address there can be controlled by the same person. Always reach the company through details you found yourself.
Step 1. Search the company name yourself
Open a new browser tab and search the company name plus the word 'careers'. Never click the link in the message — type or search the name independently. If nothing credible appears, that alone is a serious warning.
Tip: Also search the company name plus 'scam' or 'reviews'.
Step 2. Compare the domain, character by character
The recruiter's email domain must match the official website exactly. 'acme-careers.top' and 'acme.com' are different companies. Check the domain's registration date with a public WHOIS lookup — a site created weeks ago is not an established employer.
Tip: Hyphens, extra words and odd extensions (.top, .xyz, .click) are the classic tells.
Step 3. Call the number from the official site
Find the phone number on the company's own website — not in the email — and ask the front desk or HR whether the role and the recruiter are real. Give the recruiter's full name and the job title.
Tip: A real employer will happily confirm. Scammers panic when you say you called head office.
Step 4. Verify the person, not just the company
Look the recruiter up on LinkedIn from your own search. Check whether the profile lists that employer, has history, and has mutual connections. Brand-new profiles with a stock photo and no activity are throwaway accounts.
Tip: Compare the name in the email signature with the name on the profile.
Step 5. Check the official business register
In the US, search your state's Secretary of State business registry. In the UK, use Companies House. Elsewhere, use your national company register. Confirm the legal entity exists and matches the address in the offer.
Tip: A company that cannot be found in any register should not be receiving your bank details.
Step 6. Report it if it fails
In the US report to reportfraud.ftc.gov and the FBI's IC3. Elsewhere, report to your national consumer-protection or cybercrime agency, and tell the platform where you saw the posting so it can be removed.
Tip: Reporting takes five minutes and stops the same advert reaching other job seekers.
Got a message to check?
Run it through the scanner first, then verify with the steps above.
Go to the scanner