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After 25 years running a recruitment firm, I’ve seen the job market evolve in countless ways. But one thing I never expected to see explode is the rise of fraudulent job offers — texts, emails, and calls pretending to be from legitimate companies, recruiters or platforms like Indeed.
These scams are no accident. They’re the direct fallout from a wave of high-profile data breaches in 2024 and 2025. With billions of personal records now circulating on the dark web, scammers have everything they need to impersonate real employers and target job seekers at their most vulnerable.
Why Job Seekers Are Most at Risk
If you’re actively looking for a career move, you may be sharing your CV online and responding to job adverts. So when a message pops up saying, “We saw your CV and we’re interested,” it’s tempting to click.
That’s exactly what scammers are counting on.
They’ll use real company names, spoofed email addresses, and I’ve even heard of fake interviews being arranged.
You may be asked to update your personal information. Others might request payment for “training materials” or “background checks.” All of it is fake.
A professional recruiter will never ask for payment — we earn our fee from the companies we place candidates with, not from the candidates. And no legitimate employer will ever ask you for money.
Tiro’s First-Hand Experience
Tiro Associates has not been immune to these scams. In January this year, we were directly targeted when our company’s LinkedIn page began receiving messages from job seekers in South Africa — a country where we do not operate or recruit. They were asking for more information about job opportunities they believed we had texted them about. Of course, we had sent no such messages. I spent many hours personally responding to each individual, confirming that the messages were fraudulent, advising them to block and report the number, and thanking them for bringing it to our attention.
How to Spot a Recruitment Scam
- Unsolicited messages from unknown numbers or generic email addresses (e.g., Gmail, Outlook)
- Poor grammar or spelling — a common sign of phishing
- Urgency or pressure to act quickly or share personal information
- Too-good-to-be-true offers — high salaries for vague roles or remote jobs with no interview
How to Protect Yourself
- Verify the sender: If someone claims to be from a company, check their email address and cross-reference it with the company’s official website.
- Don’t click suspicious links: Hover over links to see where they lead. If it looks odd, don’t click!
- Use job platforms wisely: Stick to reputable sites and avoid sharing sensitive information in your CV.
- Enable two-factor authentication: Especially on your email and job search accounts.
- Report scams: To the job platform, the company being impersonated, and your mobile provider. For example, on an iPhone, there’s an option to “Report Junk” when you receive a suspicious text.
If you’re in the thick of a job search, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of a potential opportunity. But staying safe means staying sceptical.
Stay alert and trust your instincts. If a job offer seems too good to be true, it almost certainly is.
