Before you hand a "company" your details, make it prove it exists somewhere other than the message offering you a job. Most fronts fail that test quickly.
The rule
A real employer leaves a trail you can find on your own: a working website on its own domain, real employees, an address, and mentions beyond its own pages. If the only evidence a company exists is the job message itself, treat it as a scam.
How to check in five minutes
- Search the company name and visit its site by typing the name yourself.
- Check the domain: a brand-new domain for an established-sounding company is a flag. Watch for a lookalike domain.
- Look for real employees, an address, and reviews or news from outside the company's own site.
- Confirm the specific role on the company's careers page.
What a scam looks like
A company you can find only through the posting, a site that is days old or thin, no verifiable staff, and a recruiter pushing you to act before you can check any of it. Some real-company names are borrowed outright, so verify the recruiter too. A real listing that never gets filled is a ghost job, which wastes time rather than steals, but is worth knowing.
What to do
If the company checks out, proceed with normal caution. If it does not, share nothing and report a scam to the FTC. A quick way to gauge a domain is to check when it was registered, since an established-sounding company on a domain that is only days or weeks old is a clear warning. The complete guide has the rest. To check a posting fast, paste it into the free checker.