How to Verify Employed USA Is Legitimate

Over the past few months, my LinkedIn feed has been full of people open for work; I know how challenging the job market is. At the same time, my TikTok feed has been full of victims who have received job offers, only to find it was a scam after either giving them personal data or worse, having money stolen from them. For those of you in the job market, I want to offer a few tips: -- If someone reaches out to you directly about a job, do everything you can to verify that they are employed by the company or search firm they claim to be. Check their LinkedIn profile to make sure they have verified their workplace (Verifications are located directly under the summary section). Make sure the email address they provided has the correct company domain; check the domain spelling carefully. --If someone reaches out to you about an entry/mid-level role that typically has many qualified applicants, be suspicious. In this job market, those are not roles where recruiters need to actively recruit; they can find great candidates simply by posting the role. -- When applying for jobs directly, try to do so from a trusted source (e.g., the company's career site, LinkedIn.) Be wary of small career sites. If you find a job posted that looks interesting, check on the company's career site to see if the role is posted there. If it's not, walk away. -- NEVER give personal data (e.g., date of birth, driver's license/passport/social security number, etc.) over the phone or through a non-secured email exchange. --NEVER EVER transfer money or use your own funds to purchase anything needed for the role. They often "wire money" or send you a check to deposit in your Zelle account that ultimately bounces after you have transferred funds back to them. A legitimate company will ship required equipment to you directly. If you are asked to go buy it, walk away. -- If the job sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If you get the sense that something is off, don't be afraid to visit the company website, find a email address for general inquiries & ask them to verify that the role is legitimate and that XX recruiter is working on it. Job scams enrage me because criminals are preying on incredibly vulnerable people who can't afford to lose money. I know the emotional toll job hunting can take on a person. To think you have finally made it to the other side only to realize it was all a con is gut wrenching. I don't usually ask this, but please share this on your feed and add additional tips that I haven't mentioned. Recruiters are a community; we have to look out for job seekers, treat them with respect, and help them find real work.

Thoughts on the “scammer” job postings and recruiter outreach: NOT LEGIT: Those texts or emails you get from someone who doesn’t have a corporate email address. For example, no Amazon recruiter is going to email you from a joe.smith.amazon@gmail.com type email. It’s going to be an amazon.com domain. No one is going to text you with a job offer without any interviews or conversations either. NOT LEGIT: Any company asking you to purchase their software or computer to work for them. I've never, ever heard of this in a legit situation. LEGIT: Asking for the last four of your social, and/or your month and day of birth. Many systems into which agency recruiters must submit your resume require this information. To dig in: Ask the recruiter what VMS (vendor management system) and MSP (managed service provider) is involved. They should have a quick and direct answer to both. NOT LEGIT: Asking for your year of birth or your entire SSN. In my experience, you never need to provide that info until you have an actual job offer and need to provide this for a background check and onboarding. GRAY AREA: Asking for a resume and not having a full job description. I've worked on, and filled, plenty of jobs that never get a full, formalized job description. However, in the conversation I had with the candidates, I was able to explain why the manager had not come up with a job description yet and why we were working on the req in that way. Also, I was able to provide the client company name (next point). MOSTLY RED FLAG: Recruiter not sharing the end client name when a candidate asks. I'd say less than 5% of the time clients will ask us to keep the company name confidential. The rest of the time we share the client name once we connect with the candidate. A legit recruiter will always do so - why, they don't want to waste their time or yours if you've already been submitted or have applied to the company. Unless the recruiter has a really valid reason for the company name being withheld, I'd probably not work with a recruiter who can't or won't provide this info. GRAY AREA: Recruiter not being willing to share pay rates. Unfortunately, this is based in the mystique of "they who speak first loses" in salary negotiations. Many recruiters are trained this way, or mandated to work this way. The job could be legit. I'd love to say this is a red flag, but you could be missing real jobs here. NOT LEGIT: An AGENCY recruiter calling you with an interview with their client when you have never corresponded with anyone from that agency. MAJOR red flag and not an agency you want to work with - or it's a complete scam.

It is such a tough market right now, and the last thing job seekers need is scammers trying to take advantage of that stress. 💯 When you’re already juggling applications, interviews, and bills, getting those fake “job offers” or shady recruiter messages can feel like an extra punch in the gut. It’s frustrating because they prey on hope and urgency. 🚨 Job Scam Spotting Checklist ✅ Research the Company • Look for a legitimate website (with a careers page). • Check LinkedIn for employees who actually work there. • Google the company name + “scam” to see if warnings pop up. ✅ Verify the Recruiter • Real recruiters will use a company email (not Gmail/Yahoo/Outlook). • Look up their name on LinkedIn to confirm they’re legit. ✅ Check the Job Posting • Be cautious if the posting has poor grammar, vague details, or unrealistic pay. • Cross-check on the company’s official careers site. ✅ Watch for Red Flags • Asking for money upfront (training, equipment, “processing fees”). • Offering the job immediately without an interview. • Pushing you to act urgently or keep things “confidential.” • Only communicating by text/WhatsApp/Telegram with no video call. ✅ Protect Your Information • Never share banking info, SSN, or full personal details until you’ve verified the employer. • Only fill out official applications through secure company portals. 🌟 Rule of Thumb: If it feels off, it probably is. Trust your gut—real opportunities can handle your questions and verification.

🚨 Job Seekers: Be Smart, Be Safe — How to Spot Scams When Applying for Jobs on LinkedIn Job searching is already stressful — the last thing anyone needs is to fall victim to a scam. Unfortunately, as job search platforms grow, so do the number of bad actors trying to take advantage of job seekers. Lately, I’ve seen an uptick in fake job postings and recruiter impersonations even on reputable platforms like LinkedIn. Whether you’re actively job hunting or just browsing, here are a few tips to protect yourself from scams during your search: 🔍 1. Research the Company Before applying: Look up the company website independently (not just via the job post link). Check for a career page on their site. If the role isn’t listed there, be cautious. See if the company has recent activity on LinkedIn — no updates or presence could be a red flag. 🧑💼 2. Verify the Recruiter or Hiring Manager If someone reaches out claiming to be with a company, check their LinkedIn profile. Does it look legitimate? Do they have connections, a work history, and activity? Be wary of profiles with few connections or vague work histories. Still unsure? Reach out to the company directly through their website to verify the role or the recruiter’s identity. 💸 3. Never Pay to Apply Legitimate employers will never ask for money to apply, interview, or onboard. If you're asked for banking information, payments, or even to purchase training or equipment up front — that’s a scam. End communication immediately. 📨 4. Look at the Communication Style Poor grammar, generic greetings (“Dear Candidate”), or suspicious-looking email addresses are all red flags. Most reputable companies use company-branded emails (e.g., @companyname.com) — do not respond to Gmail or Yahoo addresses for official recruiting communication. 📄 5. Be Wary of "Too Good to Be True" Offers If the job post seems vague but offers high pay, remote work, minimal qualifications, and immediate hiring — pause and investigate. Scammers often use these tactics to lure candidates quickly. ✅ What You Can Do: Use LinkedIn’s “Report this job” function if you see something suspicious. Share posts like this with your network to help protect others. Trust your gut — if something feels off, it probably is.

ALERT: Scammers are hijacking job ads. "Scammers are taking ads from real employers, changing them, and posting them on employment websites and career-oriented platforms like Indeed or LinkedIn. The modified ads seem to be real job offers with legitimate companies. They’re not." Some tricks to watch out for: - They reach out to you via social media or teams - They use a public email address such as gmail.com or outlook.com - The website or email address is slightly off from the real companies address - They send you a form asking for personal information - They set up a quick interview and something seems off (call only, too short, too basic, poor audio, no video, not professional) - The offer comes very quickly - THEY SEND YOU A CHECK! yes, seems odd right? It is. An honset employer will never send you a check. A common trick is they send you a check to buy a computer so you can start your remote job. You deposit the check and everything seems fine. Then they ask for a portion of the money to be sent back (insert made up reason here), you send them back part of the money. A few days or weeks later the check they sent you bounces. It can take up to 21 days for a check to clear, they take advantage of that. Be a cybersecurity savvy job seeker!  If you experience any doubt about the validity of an interview or job offer, reach out directly to the company’s HR team via their corporate website and/or through employees on LinkedIn.  Ask questions.  You may end up uncovering fraudulent activity and protecting people from these bad actors. I am seeing this happen a lot recently and it is hard to see hopeful job seekers be preyed upon. PLEASE SHARE and HELP SPREAD THE WORD.

👃 Tips to Sniff Out Hiring Scams 👃 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐉𝐎𝐁? This is why it's important to keep track of your applications. Know where you've applied. If you haven't applied, get to the bottom of where someone got your resume, where they work, and vet the heck out of them before you go any further. 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐋 𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒 Look at the person's email address - is it a real company? Does the address have any extra characters in it? (Ex: an extra letter O in the word 'Gooogle'). Put the domain (everything after the @ in the email address) into your web browser to see what comes up. Figure out if the email address is legit. 𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐘'𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐁𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐄 Is the job you've been contacted about posted on a jobs page? 𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐎𝐍 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐍 Look the Sender up on LinkedIn. Check their profile for number of connections/followers, who they're connected to, posting/commenting activity. Does this look like a real person's profile? Find other people working in recruiting or HR at that company - is the Sender connected to these people? 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐘 Google the company and find a phone number. Call them using a phone number on the company's website. Let them know you received a contact about a job and want to make sure it is legitimate before proceeding. Real companies with real jobs can answer this question. Do not call numbers on any documents or emails provided to you by email or directly from the sender (they may have used fake phone numbers to keep you in a scam loop) 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐎𝐎 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐄'𝐒 If the job says you can work 20 hours per week and make amazing money, or it says you can work from home and never have to visit an office, or they send you application information asking for your personal info (SSN, banking, address, full name, mother's maiden name) so you can start right away, it's a total red flag. 𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐄/𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎 Sure, 100% virtual hiring processes happen, but any company with a legit offer is going to want to phone screen and video interview you - probably multiple times. There are few jobs where you'd only ever speak to one person in the entire hiring process, too - especially if the company is a well-known name. Offers that say they're willing to skip interviews or only have you talk to one single person are highly suspect. 𝐑𝐔𝐍 𝐈𝐓 𝐁𝐘 𝐀 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃 A second set of eyes is one of the best precautions you can take. Have a friend or family member look at everything and look for any flags, too. 𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?

Scams. The job search is already hard enough without scammers, but they're getting increasingly more sophisticated. Here's how to spot and avoid them: One of my clients last week forwarded me and email notification she had received via a LinkedIn message. The person sending her a message seemed legit. His profile showed that he worked for a recruitment company, and his message referenced a job title that my client was pursuing. Upon Googling the recruitment company name, it seemed ok, but I saw that others had experienced some strange interactions with this company in the past. That's enough of a red flag to proceed with caution. I advised my client to request this person to email her directly from his company email address, and we haven't heard back since... This serves as an important lesson for all job hunters. Scams aren't as obvious anymore, as now scammers are finding ways to impersonate REAL employees and REAL companies. Here are some other things to look out for: 1) Always make sure that conversations are coming from a legitimate company email address. Not Gmail. Not Yahoo. Not LinkedIn Messages or InMail. 2) Check the LI profile carefully. Look for things such as: -generic stock photo (or no photo) -no real work history or vague titles -very few connections or followers Sometimes scammers steal headshots from the internet. You can use Google’s reverse image search to see if the photo shows up elsewhere. 3) Search for the job directly on the company’s career site. If the recruiter is legit, the job should appear on the company's official careers page. If it’s not there, that’s a red flag. 4) Be wary of interviews done only over chat apps (like Telegram or WhatsApp). These types of apps are encrypted and can be used anonymously. Try to opt only for more professional platforms such as Zoom, Teams, etc. 5) The language used in messages are often a dead giveaway. Overly formal phrasing, odd spacing or extra spaces between words, vague descriptions, poor grammar, or phrases like “congratulations, you are shortlisted” without prior communication are red flags. 6) Don’t give out personal info before filling out onboarding paperwork. Your SSN or banking info is NEVER necessary before you've accepted an offer. In my years of career advising, the scams have gone from very obvious to well-disguised, so always be on your toes and trust your gut. If you're ever unsure about the legitimacy of an interaction, reach out to me and I'll help do some due diligence for free!

Think that job posting is legit? It might be a scam—by foreign hackers posing as U.S. recruiters. Here’s how to spot fake job offers in under 30 seconds: Thousands of professionals have handed over resumes to “recruiters” on LinkedIn and Upwork—only to be tricked. Some were unknowingly helping North Korean IT workers get hired in the U.S. under fake identities. I saw one freelancer lose access to their account after being linked to fraudulent activity they didn’t know about. The scam is simple: Fake companies post jobs. They ask for resumes. Then they impersonate real people using the data. This puts your identity, your career, and your clients at risk. Here’s how to protect yourself: - Google the company. Look for a real website, real staff, contact info. - Check the job posting date. If it’s super recent with zero applicants, be skeptical. - Ask for a video call early. Scammers often avoid showing their face. Don’t let a fake offer steal your professional reputation. Do your research before sharing your resume. It’s your first line of defense.

Applicants - scammers will try to get you to engage by posing as recruiters. You can do a couple of things to avoid being a victim. Look at the email address. Is it a company email address or a personal email address? See if the recruiter has a LI profile. Can you tell they work for the company by looking at connections, posts, etc. Do they have just a few connections - does it look like a brand new profile. If someone reaches out to you on Facebook as an example, did they just create a profile? Most companies won't offer to send you a check to buy equipment. This is a common scam. They do one interview (sometimes more), then they make an offer. They mail you a check to buy equipment, you cash it as it appears legit. They then will contest the check and the bank withdraws money from your account. You might have even given notice to a current job for a non existent job. While the company itself may exist, the job and the recruiter did not. If something seems fishy, reach out to the company to verify the employee exists. Check their career site to see if you can find the job listed. Hope this helps, if anyone has other tips to avoid being scammed, please share. We need to protect those looking for work.