Scams work because people are in a hurry and alone. Six habits remove both. Each one takes a few minutes, and after a month they are automatic.
- 1Apply through the employer's own website or careers page, or through job boards you know. If a friend forwards a WhatsApp advert, find the same vacancy on the employer's site before you apply. If it is not there, ask the employer.
- 2Keep the advert: a screenshot or a saved PDF with the date. It proves the employer, the title, the deadline and the terms. Adverts are often deleted after the deadline, and scammers count on that.
- 3Check the sender's email domain letter by letter. hr@organisation.org is theirs; organisation.hr@gmail.com, organisation-jobs.com and organisatlon.org are not. Real organisations do not recruit from free email accounts.
- 4Search the organisation's name together with the word “scam”, and search the phone number that messaged you. Many fake offers have already been reported by other candidates on Facebook or on the organisation's own page.
- 5Paste any advert or message you are unsure about into ZitTalent's Job Explainer. It reads it for you and flags the warning signs: fees, personal email addresses, a missing employer name or address, a salary far above the range.
- 6Teach the rule. Tell your family, your friends and your WhatsApp groups: real employers never charge candidates. Most victims had never heard the rule before they paid.
If you are still unsure after all six, do nothing. A real vacancy will still be there tomorrow, and a real employer will answer a polite question about it. A scam cannot wait, and that is how you know.