Stay safe: how to spot a fake job
Red flags
- Any request for money, before or after an "offer", by transfer, card or airtime.
- A recruiter who only uses Gmail, Yahoo or WhatsApp for a big company. Real companies usually write from their own domain (for example [email protected]).
- Pay that is far too good for a graduate role, or a job offered with no interview.
- Pressure to act now: "only today", "slots are filling up", "don't tell anyone".
- Requests for your BVN, bank login, card PIN or OTP. No employer needs these to hire you.
- An interview in a hotel, a house or another odd place, or late at night.
- Spelling mistakes, a fake-looking website, or a web address that is close to a real company's but not quite right.
How to check an employer is real
- Find the company's official website yourself (not from the message) and look for the opening on its careers page.
- Check that emails come from the company's own domain, not a free email address.
- Search the company's name with words like "scam" or "fake" and read what others say.
- If you can, call the company on a number from its official website and ask.
- Ask someone you trust, such as a lecturer, a career adviser or a friend in the industry.
If someone asks you for money
- Stop. Don't send money, and don't share your bank details, card, BVN or OTP.
- Keep the messages, emails and account numbers as evidence.
- If you have already paid, contact your bank straight away.
- Report it to the platform where you saw the opening, and to the police or the EFCC.
- Warn your friends, so the same people can't catch them.
How we help
We check openings before listing them and leave out ones we can't confirm. Every listing shows when we last checked it. But we can't guarantee any employer, so always confirm on the organisation's own page. We don't hire or process applications.