How to spot a job scam before you pay anything
The tactics used in fake Gulf job adverts, and how to tell a genuine listing from a fraudulent one before you lose money.
Job scams target the people who need work most, because need makes anyone hesitate less. One rule protects you from most of them: a genuine employer does not ask you for money in order to hire you.
Sign 1: they ask you for money
Any request for a fee to "reserve a visa", "process a file" or "secure the position" is a warning. Recruitment costs sit with the employer by law. A request to transfer money to a person by name, or through a wallet app, is close to certain fraud.
Sign 2: pay that does not match the market
An advert offering double the going rate for the trade, with no experience required and no conditions, is not a rare opportunity. It is bait. Ask why an employer would pay double to somebody they have never met.
Sign 3: urgency and pressure
"Visas close today." "Two places left." "Transfer within the hour." Urgency is a device to stop you thinking and checking. A real offer will survive you taking a day to verify it.
Sign 4: no company name you can search
Ask for the full company name and registration number, then search it. A real company leaves traces: a site, an address, phone numbers, a mention somewhere. A company that exists only inside a WhatsApp message is not a company.
Sign 5: everything runs through a personal number
Companies write from an address on their own domain. A free email account, or contact only through a personal number with no official address at all, is worth being wary of.
Sign 6: they want your passport far too early
A passport copy belongs to a later stage, once a clear offer exists. Asking in the first message, before any detail about the job, is not normal. Passport details are used for identity fraud.
If you have doubts
- Transfer nothing, however small, before verifying.
- Search the company name and phone number together with words like "scam" or "review".
- Ask somebody you know who has travelled, or ask at the embassy.
- If you have already paid, report it at home immediately — early reports sometimes stop a transfer.
This site collects adverts published elsewhere and does not vet every advertiser, and we never ask you for money. Treat any listing, here or anywhere, with the same care.
Papers you are asked to send too early
A passport photo is needed on a real path, after you know the establishment’s name. It is not needed together with a money transfer, or with “job insurance”, or before the commercial register is named. An Absher code, a bank code, and both sides of an iqama plus the password are not things an employer asks for. Who pays the fees in the statute, rather than in a WhatsApp deal, is in the fees guide.
An offer that cannot survive one question — can this establishment issue a visa for this profession now? — is not an offer yet. In Saudi Arabia the answer depends on Nitaqat, explained in the offer and Nitaqat guide. In the UAE it depends on the permit and Emiratisation, in the Emiratisation guide. If the person asking gets angry at the question, stop the conversation. The contract you check before accepting, if you actually reach Qiwa, is in the checklist.
A paper contract with no establishment that will name itself on the register, a visit visa with a promise of conversion, and a request for money before you have seen a name: those three are enough to stop. Do not stay on the call to collect “more evidence” after they have already gathered. Write to contact@linkgulf.net if the advert is on this site. A card here is a link to an original posting, not a contract we make. We do not ask for money or for a code.
Sources
Rules and fees change and differ by country and employer. Always check with the official authorities before paying or signing anything.