Job scam and fake recruitment

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Check a suspicious SMS, email, link or call with the fraud checker.

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What you need to understand

• For the fake recruitment message, first check the requested action, the channel used and what may already have happened if you clicked, paid or shared a code.
• Use an official channel for the fake recruitment message that you open yourself. A received link, QR code or phone number is not a reliable starting point.

The scenario, step by step

• The recruitment starts with an unsolicited message for a simple, very well-paid job, with no interview and no verifiable job description.
• The fake employer collects documents, asks for fees or requires purchases before any real employment relationship exists.
• Some offers then switch to paid tasks, repeated deposits, or using your bank account as a mule.

What the fraudster is trying to get

• Identity documents and bank details.
• Application fees, equipment fees or supposedly refundable deposits.

Common variants

• Like or review tasks.
• A fake cheque to buy equipment.
• Fake recruitment on WhatsApp or Telegram.

Warning signs in your case

• The contact starts on WhatsApp or Telegram without a verifiable interview
• A high salary is promised for simple or poorly described tasks
• Application, equipment, training or unlocking fees are requested
• The recruiter quickly asks for an identity card, an IBAN or use of your account

What a legitimate service would do

• A normal recruitment process identifies the employer, the role and the conditions before asking for sensitive data.
• A candidate does not pay to unlock their salary or get tasks.

Belgian context and fraud chain

• Fake offers sometimes use the name of an existing Belgian company or temp agency. The brand must be contacted through its public contact details, not the recruiter’s.
• Click, order or review tasks may begin with a small real payment before growing deposits are requested. That first payment is there to build trust, not to prove the job exists.

Decision points to check

• Check the email address, the existence of the role and the recruiter’s identity with the company.
• Refuse application, training, equipment or salary-unlocking fees imposed before the work starts.
• Never use your account to receive and then pass on funds from clients or supposed colleagues.

How to check without taking risks

• Do not reply to the message and do not use the link, QR code or number it contains.
• Open the official app or website yourself, then check whether the same request appears in your personal area.
• If in doubt, contact the organisation using a number found on its official website, a reliable invoice or your bank card.

What to do immediately

• Do not pay any fee to get a job and do not send money on.
• Check the company and the offer on its official website, without using the contact details from the message.
• Do not send a full document until the employer and the process are confirmed.

If you have already clicked, paid or replied

• Stop the exchange and do not try to negotiate with the sender.
• Change any access details you shared through the official service. Contact your bank immediately if a payment, card, IBAN or validation is involved.
• Keep the conversations, payment references and observed addresses for reporting, without publicly sharing personal data.

What to do after an incident

• If identity documents were sent, keep proof of the sending and watch for possible misuse; follow the official steps in case of identity theft.
• If your bank account was used for transfers, inform the bank immediately and do not continue the requested operations.
• Report the offer on the platform where it was published and keep the ad, domain, conversations and payment references.

Limits and level of proof

• A very well-paid offer or an interview by messaging alone is not proof on its own, but a non-verifiable employer and payment requests are major warning signs.
• StopArnaques does not certify employers and does not replace contractual or legal checks on an offer.

Analysis grid for the fake recruitment message

• To review a the fake recruitment message case, separate four questions: who made contact, through which channel, what action is being requested and which independent element can confirm it. One reassuring answer does not make up for the other inconsistencies.
• The priority signs in this case are: the contact starts on WhatsApp or Telegram without a verifiable interview; a high salary is promised for simple or poorly described tasks; application, equipment, training or unlocking fees are requested; the recruiter quickly asks for an identity card, an IBAN or the use of your account. Their combination matters more than the isolated presence of a word, a logo or a typo.
• Always compare the message with the real state of the service. For the fake recruitment message, a request that is missing from the app, account or official contact should remain unexecuted until confirmed.

When to ask for immediate help

• In a the fake recruitment message case, contact the service concerned without delay if a code, validation, payment, card, identity document or remote access has already been shared. Describe the exact action rather than saying only that you were hacked.
• If no sensitive action has been taken, keep the useful evidence, block the contact and use the detector to document the signs. This distinction avoids mixing prevention, confirmed incident and a simple unsolicited message.

What to do now

• If you have not acted, do not click further and open the named service's official channel yourself.
• If you clicked, close the page, enter nothing else and note what information was shown or requested.
• If you shared a code, card, password or payment, contact your bank or the relevant official service immediately.
• Keep the message, time, link used and any useful screenshots. Share them only with an official reporting channel or a trusted helper.

Limits of this page

• This page does not prove that a message is safe and does not replace your bank, the police, Safeonweb, a platform or a public service.
• A scam may be new, very well written or described with too little context. Use the result as decision support, not as absolute certainty.
• Before taking a final action, checking through the official channel matters more than the appearance of the received message.

Check through an official channel

• Type the service address yourself or open the official app. Do not use a phone number, link or QR code from the suspicious message to verify the situation.
• When money, card details, a code or account access are involved, the safety action comes first. The analysis can then help organise the evidence.

How to read the result

• A low number of signals does not mean that everything is safe. It only means that this page or analysis did not find decisive evidence with the information available.
• Focus on the requested action: paying, sharing a code, installing an app, approving a bank action or leaving an official platform. That action matters more than a logo, sender name or polished wording.
• If the situation feels urgent, step away from the received message first. Then check calmly through a channel you already trusted before the message arrived.

Belgian reading of this situation

• For the fake recruitment message, focus on the relevant Belgian next step: open the official channel yourself, contact the bank, use Safeonweb or preserve evidence.
• The right décision for the fake recruitment message depends on what has already happened. Reading a message is not the same as clicking, paying, sharing a code or granting remote access.

Frequently asked questions

Useful official sources

• Febelfin - Arnaque à l'emploi - link checked on 2026-10-26
• Febelfin - Qu'est-ce qu'une mule financière ? - link checked on 2026-10-26
• SPF Économie - Comment reconnaître une arnaque ou un arnaqueur ? - link checked on 2026-10-26
• SPF Économie - Victime d'une arnaque ? Que faire ? - link checked on 2026-10-26

Transparency and Sources

Last updated

2026-09-10

Latest recorded source check

2026-10-26

Content status

information published with visible sources and clear limits

Official sources cited

4

Editorial responsibility

StopArnaques

StopArnaques is an independent Belgian service. It is not a public authority and does not speak on behalf of the organisations cited.

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