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Key points

• In your job search, be on the lookout for criminal scams, ghost posts, and posts that are deceitful about jobs they have to offer.
• Not all posts are created with malicious intent, but they can still hurt you.
• There are ways you can protect yourself when you know what to look for. 

Every college student approaching a job search knows that it’ll be time-consuming and they’ll likely face some rejection before they gain that elusive status: “Employed!” Unfortunately, career seekers now also need to be vigilant about spotting job scams, ghost postings, and jobs that are not exactly what they claim.

Students share what happens when you apply to a fake job post

Mary W.*, a fourth-year student at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, was offered a data analytics role at a highly prestigious financial services organization for an hourly rate that was well above the regular starting salary for a new grad. The company sent her a short behavioral questionnaire, and her offer came a few days later. But when Mary was asked to purchase equipment from the company using her own credit card, she called to ask a few questions—and learned the firm had never heard of her recruiter or of her.

Andy G.*, a third-year student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, applied to an internship that was tailor-made for him. Highly prestigious chemistry honors grades? Check. Prior lab experience with outstanding references for precision and work ethic? Check. His résumé could have been used to model the job description. Yet the summer came and went, and Andy heard nothing.

Hall P.* graduated from the University of Richmond in Virginia a few months before they were given a verbal job offer as an entry-level account manager at a marketing firm and told to report to a specific address one Monday morning to begin training. When they arrived, however, they were given a case of hummus samples to hand out and assigned a street corner.

How and why do fake job posts happen?

Mary replied to a job that had once been a real posting at a real company. A scammer reposted the job description on Indeed, linked it to a copy of the company’s site, and added an email and phone number that went directly to the fake company. The scammers could have been going for just her credit card or her full identity.

Andy’s situation didn’t involve malicious intent. He replied to a “ghost posting.” It was posted legitimately and likely represented an actual job, but the posting was never taken down. Andy lost time and confidence waiting for a response from a company for a role he really wanted.

Hall was vulnerable to the positive reinforcement and immediate start date offered by the recruiter for this “entry level” role. They had spent months applying and hearing nothing. After this experience, Hall lost confidence in themselves, worrying it might be the only role they could get.

All three scams happen more often than you may realize. Here’s how to protect yourself.

3 types of fake job posts

1. The criminal scam

In a 2020 study, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) reported that 18 percent of the 14 million people exposed to job scams were 18- to 24-year-olds. The overall number has risen dramatically since COVID, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Scammers use legitimate job boards, techniques that mirror their legitimate counterparts, and interview questions that correspond with what job seekers are told to expect.

“If a job posting promises a lot of money, no experience required, or a work-from-home position with no interview, it’s probably a scam,” says Jeanne Collins, an Agile project manager in Phoenix, Arizona, who was almost scammed into a lucrative but fake role.

What to look for:

• Job benefits, conditions, and salary are too good to be true.
• Check the recruiter’s email address to make sure the domain name is the same as the domain for the company to which you are being recruited. No professional will use a non-company email in the recruiting process. Ever.
• Verify a recruiter’s employment. You have every right to call the company’s Human Resources department and say you are asking out of concern about being scammed.
• Never provide a credit card number or a social security number during the recruiting process.

This kind of scam is on the rise, and the federal government is working hard to get the word out. Both the FBI and the FTC regularly post warnings on the issue because even the most experienced job seeker can potentially be taken in with today’s sophisticated targeting tools. Getting scammed can happen to anyone, and if it happens to you, don’t feel embarrassed—instead, report it to further protect yourself and others. 

2. The ghost post

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 8.8 million open jobs available on the last day of November 2023 and 5.7 million unemployed Americans in December 2023. These are great odds, right?

Almost 43 percent of all hiring managers keep job postings open even if they don’t intend to immediately hire for a position, according to an October 2023 study of 1,000 hiring managers. These employers may want to keep existing staff motivated, make competitors think they are growing, or just keep a steady flow of candidates coming in the door in case of turnover.

“It is incredibly discouraging to learn that a lot of the job postings I was seeing were not for actual jobs,” says Sanya G., a second-year student at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, about her recent hunt for a summer internship. “However, I’ve also learned not to take it personally if I don’t hear back from a posting that may not be active.”

What to look for:

• Check the date the job was posted. If it was more than 30 days, the post may no longer be active.
• Double-check that the position is also listed on the company’s website under its career section. If there is a discrepancy, believe what is on the company’s site. Postings on job boards can be stale and outdated. If you do see the job application listed on the company website, it’s best to apply there. “When possible, I always encourage students to apply on a company’s website instead of through a job board,” says Robyn Williams, associate director of career engagement in the College of Engineering at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. 
• Recognize that if you’re going to be contacted for the job, it will likely happen fast. Only rarely will it be more than a few weeks, and more often you’ll hear within a few days.

“By law, an organization is required to open a requisition to the public even when an internal candidate has already been identified,” says Kristen F., a fourth-year student at the University of California, Berkeley. “This is why some positions are opened and closed in three days or less.”

Again, ghost posts are prevalent, and even Indeed, one of the industry’s leading platforms, warns job seekers they are hard to detect.

3. The real job…that is really bad

Most often, these jobs fall into the category of “direct sales” in one of three areas:

Multilevel-marketing (MLM) companies
These are companies that choose to sell through direct sales people rather than through retail or online outlets. Examples of MLMs that you may know include Avon and Amway. “These companies often promise huge financial gain in a short period of time, which often isn’t the case in a normal sales role,” says Bea A., a third-year student at the University of California, Berkeley.

Direct sales companies
They’ll use a generic job title, like “entry-level account manager.” Most often, these organizations have subcontracted with companies, such as cell phone re-marketers or consumer goods producers, to execute “field marketing” plans, meaning face-to-face marketing at events or simply reaching out to passersby.

“The recruiter made everything about the entry-level account role sound amazing,” said Reilly H., a recent Villanova grad and now a successful marketing executive in Brooklyn, New York. “But when I showed up, the actual role was selling cell phones from a card table on the sidewalk.” He had the good sense to walk away fast.

Insurance sales
Sales brokerages will also offer unpaid or commission-only roles and allow you a place to study for your required licenses.

If you want to lean in and start this way, that’s great! But don’t get tricked into it. 

What to look for:

• The company has a generic name, like “Top Sales Partners.”
• The website uses AI-generated or stock photos, mostly of young people, and a lot of business jargon that doesn’t really tell you much.
• There is no information listed for what they do, who their clients are, what products or services they offer, or who their senior leaders are.

In this instance, check Glassdoor to see if the company has any reviews from former or current employees. These will likely tell you everything you need to know about the company and what the role actually is. “Sometimes companies highlight fake testimonies of people who have worked with them,” says Yukthi S., a fourth-year student at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark. “It helps to do a quick search of whether the person is real and has ties to the company.”

The BBB may also have a rating of the business on its website. Note that all companies will have some people who just did not have great experiences, but if you read enough comments, you will see some themes emerge.

“During my recent job search, I noticed that many job ads seemed to linger indefinitely,” says Jessica M., recent graduate, Bow Valley College, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. “As one of my tactics, I would search for the company’s address on Google Maps. Some companies didn’t appear at all, while others listed their home addresses without specifying that it was a business location. In such cases I ran away from them!”

Reach out to your career center for a second opinion if you notice anything suspicious about a job posting, says Williams. “If a fake listing is on a university-based job board (e.g., Handshake or Simplicity) it’s important that you tell the Career Center so they can block those companies and advise any other students who may have applied for that role,” she adds. When in doubt, go to your career center for help. The job search can be tricky, but with persistence and a discerning eye, you’ll land a job eventually. 

*Names changed