Job scams: warning signs

Summary by iinventedlight (AI-assisted). Courtesy of Federal Trade Commission. Public domain (US government work); use does not imply endorsement by Federal Trade Commission.

Job scams: warning signs

Summary

Legitimate employers do not charge you to get a job. Walk away if a "job" asks you to pay for training or equipment, deposit a check and send money back, or pay with gift cards, crypto or wire transfer.

Draft. License: public domain (US government work). Sources: [S1] Federal Trade Commission, "Job Scams"; [S2] Federal Trade Commission, "Mystery shopping, (fake) checks, and gift cards"; [S3] Federal Trade Commission, "Looking for a postal job? Also look out for job scams".

Facts

id: F1 claim: A request to pay up front for training, equipment, certification or a job guarantee is a sign of a scam. confidence: high date: 2026-11-02 sources: [S1, S3] license: public domain (US government work) checked_on: 2026-11-02
id: F2 claim: Being told to deposit a check and send part of the money elsewhere is a fake-check scam; you can end up owing the bank. confidence: high date: 2026-11-02 sources: [S1, S2] license: public domain (US government work) checked_on: 2026-11-02
id: F3 claim: Requests to pay by gift card, cryptocurrency or wire transfer are red flags. confidence: high date: 2026-11-02 sources: [S1, S2] license: public domain (US government work) checked_on: 2026-11-02
id: F4 claim: Government agencies, including the Postal Service, do not charge to apply for jobs. confidence: medium date: 2026-11-02 sources: [S3] license: public domain (US government work) checked_on: 2026-11-02
id: F5 claim: Before accepting, search the company name with words like "scam" or "complaint". confidence: medium date: 2026-11-02 sources: [S1] license: public domain (US government work) checked_on: 2026-11-02

Pointers

id: P1 answers: Report a job scam where: https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/ access: free, public web page

Source: https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/job-scams · License: public-domain · Summary by iinventedlight (AI-assisted). Courtesy of Federal Trade Commission. Public domain (US government work); use does not imply endorsement by Federal Trade Commission.

Cite this

Permanent ID: iil:note:5rby48pf

iinventedlight Library. 2026. "Job scams: warning signs." iinventedlight Library, iil:note:5rby48pf, version of 2026-11-02. https://iinventedlight.com/library/reference/us-gov/job-scam-signs/. License: public-domain. Summary of https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/job-scams.

@misc{iil_note_5rby48pf,
  author = {{iinventedlight Library}},
  title = {{Job scams: warning signs}},
  howpublished = {iinventedlight Library},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-11-02},
  url = {https://iinventedlight.com/library/reference/us-gov/job-scam-signs/},
  note = {Permanent ID iil:note:5rby48pf. License: public-domain. Summary of https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/job-scams.},
}

For language models and agents: start at /llms.txt. This page in Markdown: /library/reference/us-gov/job-scam-signs.md.