A genuine employer may test your skills, but it never asks you to pay for the job. Most scams follow one pattern: an easy offer, pressure to act fast, then a demand for money, documents or account access before you have met anyone from the company.
Warning signs
- Upfront fees. Registration, training, uniform, "security deposit", medical or visa processing charges.
- Offers without interviews. An offer letter after a short WhatsApp or Telegram chat, often with a copied logo and a free email address.
- Task scams. Small payments for liking videos or rating products, then a demand for a deposit to access "premium" tasks or withdraw earnings, after which the payouts stop.
- Overseas "visa jobs". Factory, driving or hotel work abroad promised for a large fee, often backed by forged work permits.
- Pay that doesn't fit the role. High salaries with no experience or screening required.
- Data harvesting. Requests for your NID or passport scan, bank details or one-time passwords before any interview.
How to verify a company and recruiter
- Find the company's official website yourself, not through links in the message, check that the role appears on its careers page, and call its published number to confirm the vacancy.
- Compare the recruiter's email domain with the company's; established employers rarely recruit from Gmail or Yahoo addresses.
- Check the recruiter's LinkedIn profile; a new account or very few connections is a warning sign.
- Search official company registers, such as RJSC in Bangladesh or Companies House in the UK.
- For overseas jobs, confirm the agency is licensed; Bangladesh and India, for example, publish official lists of licensed recruiting agencies.
Remote roles are a frequent target, so start from our remote job websites list and our guide to remote work from Bangladesh.
If you have been targeted
Stop replying and send no more money, even if they promise a refund or make threats. If you paid by bank, card or a mobile wallet such as bKash or Nagad, contact the provider immediately to ask whether the payment can be stopped. Change any passwords you shared, report the account on the platform and to your local police cybercrime unit, and keep screenshots and receipts as evidence.
Career services are not job sellers
Legitimate career services sell documents, coaching and application support, never jobs. GrowUpCareer can write your CV, prepare you for interviews and help with applications, but no agency can guarantee a job, and we never sell "guaranteed jobs" or give visa advice. A guaranteed position offered for a fee is the clearest red flag of all.
FAQ
Is a test task a sign of a scam?
Not by itself; short skill tests are common in genuine hiring. Be wary if the "test" looks like hours of real client work, and walk away if it requires payment.
Can a real recruiter contact me on WhatsApp?
Yes, many do, especially in South Asia and the Gulf. What matters is whether the person, company and vacancy can be independently verified, and whether money is requested.
What if a fake offer uses a real company's name?
Tell the real company through its official channels so it can warn others, report the profile or number on the platform, and stop replying.