Before you start
Have the posting URL, the recruiter's email address or phone number, and the company name exactly as written. Run the checks in order; the first two catch most fakes. The FTC's own advice matches: search the name with "scam," "review" or "complaint," and never pay for the promise of a job (FTC, Job Scams article, March 2023; FTC consumer alert, February 24, 2026).
The checklist
Scroll horizontally to view every column.
| Step | Check | Tool | Minutes | What a fake usually fails |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Find the same job on the employer's own careers domain | The company website | 2 | Not there, or the title, pay or location differ |
| 2 | Confirm the company in its state's business registry | Texas Comptroller, California bizfile, New York DOS, Florida Sunbiz, Illinois SOS | 2 | No record, or a name that is close but not exact |
| 3 | Look up the company at BBB and search Scam Tracker | bbb.org and bbb.org/scamtracker | 1 | Scam reports tied to the name, phone or website |
| 4 | Search the name with "scam," "review," "complaint" | Any search engine (FTC advice) | 1 | Warnings from the real company or other applicants |
| 5 | Check the sender's email domain and its age | Compare with the careers domain; ICANN Lookup | 1 | Free webmail, a lookalike, or a domain registered weeks ago |
| 6 | Reverse image search the recruiter's photo | Google Images | 1 | The photo belongs to someone else or a stock site |
| 7 | Check the channel | The message itself | 0.5 | WhatsApp or Telegram only; a text that asks you to reply "YES" |
| 8 | Apply the never-pay rule | FTC consumer advice | 0.5 | A fee for training, a kit, equipment, a check to deposit, or a crypto deposit |
| 9 | Check the posting's dates and source link | JobPin card: posted date, "last seen," source link | 0.5 | No source link, or a listing gone from the source |
| 10 | Match it against known patterns | FTC job scam alerts | 0.5 | Task job, reshipping, fake check, or pay-to-get-hired |
Step 1: the employer's own careers domain
Open the company's website by typing its name into a search engine, not by clicking a link in the message. Look in its careers section for the same title, location and pay. Employers post their own rules there, too. Concentrix shows a "recruitment fraud alert" on its careers home page (jobs.concentrix.com, October 2026). Conduent states that it "only uses conduent.com for email communications" and "will not ask you to purchase equipment to start working" (careers.conduent.com, October 2026). If the job is not on the employer's domain, it is unverified, whatever the recruiter says.
Step 2: state business registries
A registry record proves the company exists and where it is registered. It does not prove the person writing to you works there, so pair it with steps 1 and 5. The five largest states run name searches:
- Texas. The Comptroller's Franchise Tax Account Status search is free (comptroller.texas.gov). The Secretary of State's SOSDirect charges "a $1.00 statutorily authorized fee associated with each search" (sos.state.tx.us, October 2026).
- California. The Secretary of State's Business Search at bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov (October 2026).
- New York. The Department of State's Corporation and Business Entity Database (apps.dos.ny.gov/publicInquiry, October 2026).
- Florida. Sunbiz, the Division of Corporations search by name, officer, agent or address (search.sunbiz.org, October 2026).
- Illinois. The Secretary of State's Business Entity Search (apps.ilsos.gov/businessentitysearch, October 2026).
Other states offer the same tool on the Secretary of State site. Match the exact legal name, not a close one.
Steps 3 and 4: BBB and complaints
The Better Business Bureau lists business profiles at bbb.org. BBB Scam Tracker lets you search reported scams by phone number, website, email or business name (bbb.org/scamtracker, October 2026). Then search the company and recruiter name with "scam," "review" or "complaint," the check the FTC recommends (FTC, March 2023; February 24, 2026). For the big picture, the FTC publishes Consumer Sentinel data at ftc.gov/exploredata and the FBI publishes its Internet Crime Report at ic3.gov; employment fraud drew 24,688 FBI complaints and $362.9 million in losses in 2025 (FBI IC3, 2025 Internet Crime Report). The numbers and the FTC's warning signs are in job scams in 2026.
Step 5: the email domain
A real recruiter writes from the company's own domain, the same one as its careers site. Compare the part after the "@" letter by letter; lookalikes add a word, a hyphen or a different ending. Free webmail is a stop sign for any company with a website. ICANN Lookup (lookup.icann.org) shows when a domain was created; a domain created days before the "offer" is a fake.
Steps 6 and 7: the person and the channel
Save the recruiter's profile photo and run it through Google Images (images.google.com). A photo that appears under other names, or on a stock photo site, ends the check. Then look at the channel. Of job messages on WhatsApp, Telegram and text, the FTC says: "Real employers will never contact you that way" (FTC consumer alert, August 14, 2025). Texts that ask you to reply "YES" or "INTERESTED" are a pattern the FTC flagged on April 30, 2026. Video interviews are not proof either: IC3 reports voice spoofing and possible deepfakes in online job interviews (FBI IC3, 2025 Internet Crime Report).
Step 8: never pay
"Honest employers will never ask you to pay to get a job" (FTC consumer alert, June 24, 2025). That covers training, kits, certifications, background check "processing," equipment bought through the recruiter's link, and any deposit. A check that arrives before you start, with instructions to send part back, is a fake check scam; it bounces and you owe the bank (same alert). The one exception is a fee published on a contractor platform's own site, such as the background check fees Liveops and Arise list; those are compared in remote customer service jobs with no experience.
Step 9: dates, sources, and ghost jobs
A ghost job is a posting that stays up after the role is filled, or that was never meant to be filled. There is no federal count of them, so use dates. On JobPin, every card shows the provider's posted date, a "last seen" date and a "View on" link to the source (jobpin.net, October 2026). The site's guide says "some employers leave listings up after filling them," and its About page says a recent timestamp "is not a guarantee that an employer has not paused or filled the role since the provider last checked it." So: prefer listings refreshed in the last 7 days, confirm the job is still on the employer's site, and apply early. How the labels work: what "hiring now" labels mean and how JobPin verifies listings.
Step 10: known patterns
Match the offer against the FTC's four main scripts: the task job (rate or "boost" products, then deposit), the reshipping job, the fake check job, and the pay-to-get-hired job (FTC job scam alerts, 2025 to 2026). The first is the most common; its timeline is in task scams explained.
If a check fails
Stop replying. Do not send money, an ID photo or account numbers. Report the posting at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and, if money or data changed hands, at ic3.gov. If the listing came from JobPin, send the listing URL through the site's contact page; it can investigate, correct, label or retire a listing (jobpin.net/about, October 2026). Keep notes on what you checked in the application tracker.
Current openings
Listings with provider dates and source links: jobs hiring now, remote jobs, warehouse jobs and warehouse jobs in Dallas. To meet employers in person, use the job fairs calendar; each event lists its organizer and official source.
Source-linked openings
Current source-linked listings could not be confirmed in this sample. Check the category search and each original posting for availability.
How to verify a listing
Open the source link on the card, then run steps 1, 2, 5 and 8 above: find the job on the employer's own domain, confirm the company in its state registry, match the email domain, and refuse any payment. If the source posting has disappeared, the job may have been filled; the card's "last seen" date tells you when the provider last returned it. Report anything that fails step 8.
How JobPin dates and sources listings: How JobPin verifies listings and events. Report a listing.