How to Identify Fake Remote Job Offers: Offer Letters, Onboarding and Equipment Scams

Scammers wait until the offer stage because that is when you're happiest and least careful. The FTC has documented scammers who copy real companies' logos onto offer letters, run fake onboarding calls and send fake employee handbooks listing laptops you must buy. This guide covers what happens after the offer arrives: how to read an offer letter, which onboarding requests are normal and which are not, how the cheque and equipment scams work for someone living in Nigeria, and a ten-minute check to run before you say yes. For scams at the job-ad and application stage, read our guide to spotting remote job scams in Nigeria.

Quick answer

A remote job offer is probably fake if it came without a proper interview, arrives from a personal or lookalike email domain, or leads to any request for you to pay, buy equipment from a named vendor, deposit a cheque, forward money, or share your BVN, card details or passwords before you've signed a contract. Confirm the offer through the company's own website, using contact details you found yourself.

Why fake remote job offers target the offer stage

Most job seekers are careful when applying. They check the company and avoid "pay to apply" adverts. Scammers know this, so many skip the advert altogether. They message you directly, praise your LinkedIn profile, hold a short "interview" by text or video, and move quickly to an offer.

The FTC described this pattern in an August 2023 warning. Scammers pose as recruiters for well-known companies, cite the target's portfolio or LinkedIn profile, interview by text or video, then send an offer on corporate-looking letterhead and book an "onboarding" call with a supposed HR representative (FTC Business Blog, 2023). The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) also warned that criminals build lookalike career websites for real companies, post jobs that link to them, and then ask "new hires" for signed contracts, ID copies, bank details and card details (FBI IC3, January 2020).

The money involved is large. Reported job-scam losses in the US tripled between 2020 and 2023 and passed $220 million in the first half of 2024 alone, according to FTC data published in December 2024 (FTC, 2024). Those are US consumer reports, not Nigerian figures, but the same scripts reach Nigerian inboxes and WhatsApp numbers because remote work is global.

For Nigerians the risk is sharper in one way. Many genuine international employers hire from Nigeria through an employer of record (EOR) or as contractors, so the onboarding steps you'll meet are unfamiliar. That makes it harder to tell a real Deel or Remote.com onboarding email from a fake one. The sections below show you how.

How to check a remote job offer letter

An offer letter is only a document. Anyone can paste a logo onto a PDF. The FTC notes that the logos and documents in these scams are typically "cut-and-paste fakes" (FTC Business Blog, 2023). A professional look tells you nothing. The details inside the letter tell you a lot.

The sender's domain matters more than the logo

Look at the full email address, not just the display name. "Talent Team, Stripe" can come from any address. Scammers often register domains one letter off the real one, or add words such as "-careers" or "-hr". The FBI recommends searching for the company name on its own: if several similar websites come up, some may be fake (FBI IC3).

Some companies publish exactly which addresses their recruiters use. Greenhouse, for example, says genuine messages from its hiring teams come only from an @greenhouse.io address. It also says it will never ask during interviews for Social Security numbers, passwords, card numbers, passport information or bank details (Greenhouse). Search "[company name] recruitment fraud" to see whether the company you're dealing with has a similar notice.

To check when a domain was registered, enter it on ICANN Lookup. If the domain is a few weeks old and claims to belong to a company founded years ago, stop.

An offer with no real interview

Genuine international employers, even fast-moving start-ups, almost always hold at least one live video call with someone you can identify before making an offer. The FBI lists interviews that don't happen in person or over a secure video call as a warning sign (FBI IC3). An "interview" held entirely by Telegram or WhatsApp text, followed by an offer, is not normal hiring. Our planned guide on recognising fake remote job interviews covers what a fake interview looks like.

Pay that doesn't fit the job

The FTC's job-scam guidance says offers promising big earnings in a short time for little work are "almost certainly a scam" (FTC, job scams). A data entry offer of $4,000 a month for 15 hours a week, sent to someone with no experience, fails this test. If you're not sure what a role pays, compare it with the published ranges on our salary guides before you get excited.

Fake onboarding: when "HR" asks for documents and money

Onboarding is where a fake offer turns into identity theft. The FTC describes fake HR contacts asking for Social Security numbers and bank details "for tax forms or direct deposit" (FTC Business Blog, 2023). In Nigeria the same script asks for your BVN, NIN, a passport data page, your ATM card details or your internet banking login.

What genuine employers collect, and when

Real employers do need some personal information, so you can't refuse everything. Pay attention to timing and channel.

• Before a signed contract: a genuine employer has no reason to need your BVN, card number, banking password or OTP. Your CV and a contact email are enough.
• After you sign: an EOR or payroll provider may ask for ID to verify you and for account details to pay you. This normally happens inside their own platform, which you log in to by typing the address yourself.
• Never: card PINs, OTPs, online banking passwords, or payment for "background checks". The FBI advises never giving card information to an employer at all (FBI IC3).

The FBI also notes that legitimate employers usually collect bank details for payroll only after hiring (FBI IC3). For a Nigeria-based hire, "after hiring" means after you've signed a contract you can match to a real company.

A passport scan is a grey area. Genuine EORs often do ask for one after you sign. Before sending one anywhere, read our planned guide on what to know before sending your passport to a recruiter.

Fake EOR and payroll portals

Many foreign companies pay Nigerian staff through platforms such as Deel or Remote.com. That's normal, and our guide to contractor and EOR employee arrangements explains how they work. It also gives scammers a new disguise: an email saying "Complete your Deel onboarding" with a link to a lookalike login page.

To stay safe:

• Never log in through a link in an email you weren't expecting. Type the platform's address yourself, or open its app.
• If a genuine company has engaged you through an EOR, the invitation will match the company you interviewed with, and your contract will appear in your account.
• Don't pay anything to "activate" a payroll account. Real payroll platforms are paid by the employer.

Equipment and cheque scams in remote job offers

These are the most common money traps at the offer stage. They come in three versions, and each has a Nigerian twist.

The "preferred vendor" equipment scam

You're told to buy a laptop, headset or software licence from the company's "approved supplier", with a promise that the cost will come back in your first salary. The FTC describes exactly this: victims get a fake IT memo or handbook listing devices to buy from a preferred supplier, the equipment never arrives, and the job never existed (FTC Business Blog, 2023). The FTC's December 2023 alert adds that fake recruiters may send an invoice for a computer or "training" and ask for payment through apps, promising a refund that never comes (FTC consumer alert, 2023).

In Nigeria the "vendor" usually wants a naira bank transfer to a personal account, a USDT (crypto) payment, or a gift card. Any of these should end the conversation.

Some genuine remote employers do expect you to use your own laptop. A requirement like that is stated plainly in the job advert or contract. You buy the laptop wherever you like, and nobody sends you an invoice or a supplier's account number.

The fake cheque or "equipment funds" scam

In the US version, the "employer" mails a cheque for equipment or a signing bonus. You deposit it and are told to send part of the money to a vendor. The FTC explains that funds can appear in your account quickly even when the cheque is fake. It can take the bank weeks to find out, and by then you're "stuck paying the money back to the bank" (FTC, fake check scams). The FTC's job-scams page puts it simply: an employer who sends a cheque and asks you to send some of it elsewhere is not a legitimate employer (FTC, job scams).

Paper cheques from abroad are rare in Nigeria, so the scam adapts. Watch for these versions:

• A transfer lands in your account from a stranger, labelled "equipment allowance", and you're asked to forward most of it to a "vendor" or "colleague". The money may be reversed later, or it may have come from another victim, which ties you to a fraud you didn't commit.
• A screenshot of a "payment sent" from a foreign bank or payment app, followed by pressure to pay a "release fee" or "conversion charge" before it arrives.
• Crypto sent to a wallet they ask you to open, with instructions to send it on.

The rule doesn't change: a real employer never pays you money so that you can send it on to someone else.

The "signing bonus" overpayment

A variation: the bonus is "accidentally" too large, and you're asked to refund the difference quickly. The FTC lists "refunding an overpayment" as one of the standard excuses in fake cheque scams (FTC, fake check scams). If a genuine employer really did overpay you, its payroll team would deal with it through official channels, and the money would not be going to a third party.

Task scams that arrive as job offers

Some fake offers aren't for a job at all. A friendly message on WhatsApp or Telegram offers flexible online work "optimising apps" or "boosting products". You complete simple tasks, get a small payout, and are then told to deposit your own money to move up to bigger tasks or withdraw your "earnings".

The FTC calls these task scams. Reports rose from about 5,000 in 2023 to about 20,000 in the first half of 2024, and task scams made up nearly 40% of US job-scam reports in 2024. Cryptocurrency was the preferred payment method (FTC, 2024). The FTC's advice is to ignore unexpected job messages by text or WhatsApp and never pay money to receive pay.

The small first payout is the bait. Being paid ₦5,000 or $10 does not prove the work is real. It's how the scammer earns your trust.

A ten-minute check before you accept any remote job offer

Run these steps before you sign, send documents or pay anything. They work whether the offer came from LinkedIn, a job board, email or WhatsApp.

1. Find the job yourself. Go to the company's official website (search for it, don't click a link from the recruiter) and look for the role on its careers page. The FBI flags jobs that appear on job boards but not on the company's own site (FBI IC3).
2. Check the sender's domain against the website's domain, character by character. Look up the domain's registration date on ICANN Lookup.
3. Contact the company through a channel you found. The FTC advises using a phone number or website you know is genuine, not one the recruiter gave you (FTC consumer alert, 2023). Email the official careers or HR address and ask whether the person who contacted you works there.
4. Find the recruiter. Look for a LinkedIn profile with a work history, connections at the same company and activity older than a few weeks. The FBI lists recruiters with no profile, or a profile that doesn't match their role, as a warning sign (FBI IC3).
5. Search the offer's wording. Paste a sentence from the offer letter into a search engine with the word "scam". Fake templates get reused.
6. List every request. Write down everything they have asked for. Any request for money, card details, a BVN, a banking login or an OTP, or any instruction to forward funds, is a stop.
7. Ask for the contract. Ask which legal entity will employ or contract you, whether that's direct, through an EOR or as a contractor, and how you'll be paid. Genuine employers answer these questions. Our planned guide on checking a remote work contract before signing covers the clauses to read.
8. Slow down. Any pressure to accept within hours, or to keep the offer secret, is a tactic. Real offers can wait a day or two while you check.

If the offer passes all eight steps, it's very likely genuine. You can then move on to the normal questions about pay dates, leave and notice periods, which our planned guide on questions to ask before accepting a remote job offer lists.

Example (hypothetical): two offers compared

Example (hypothetical): Amaka, a customer support applicant in Ibadan, receives two offers in the same week.

Offer A comes after a 40-minute video call with a support team lead and a short written assessment. The email is from the company's own domain, which matches its website and careers page, where the role is listed. The letter names the company's legal entity, says she'll be hired as a contractor paid monthly in dollars through Deel, and asks her to accept the contract inside Deel. She logs in by typing Deel's address herself and finds the contract waiting. Nobody asks her for money.

Offer B follows a Telegram chat with "Jessica from HR". The PDF letter carries a famous logo and offers $3,500 a month for "remote data entry". The next message asks for a photo of her BVN slip and her ATM card "for salary setup". It also says a $1,200 "equipment allowance" will be sent to her account, from which she should transfer ₦1,200,000 to the company's laptop supplier.

Offer A has nothing alarming in it. Offer B fails almost every check in this guide: no real interview, no traceable sender, pay out of line with the work, early requests for banking data and card details, and money she is meant to forward.

What to do if you've already responded to a fake offer

Act quickly. The order matters.

1. Stop sending money and information. Don't reply to threats or "final chance" messages.
2. Call your bank using the number on your card or the official app. Report any transfers you made, and any money you received and were told to forward. If you shared card details, an OTP or banking login details, ask for the card to be blocked and your access reset.
3. Change passwords for email and any account whose details you shared, and turn on two-factor authentication.
4. Keep the evidence: screenshots of chats, the offer letter, email headers, account numbers and wallet addresses.
5. Report it. In Nigeria, the Nigeria Police National Cybercrime Centre runs an e-reporting portal for cybercrime. If the scammer impersonated a US company, you can also report to the FBI's IC3 and to the FTC, which the FTC's job-scams page links to. Tell the company being impersonated too: Greenhouse, for example, asks people targeted in its name to contact its talent team (Greenhouse).
6. Report the profile or post on the platform where the contact began.

Our planned guide on what to do if you've been scammed by a fake employer goes further on recovery and on protecting your identity afterwards.

Frequently asked questions

Is a job offer without an interview always fake?

Almost always, for remote roles with international companies. Genuine employers, including fast-hiring start-ups, normally hold at least one live video call with someone you can identify. A text-only "interview" followed by an offer should be treated as a scam until proven otherwise.

Is it normal for a remote employer to ask me to buy my own equipment?

Some genuine employers do expect contractors to use their own laptop and internet, and say so in the advert or contract. What isn't normal is being told to buy from a specific "approved vendor", or to pay an invoice the employer sends you. That is the classic equipment scam the FTC describes.

A company sent money to my account for equipment. What should I do?

Don't forward or spend it. Call your bank through the official number, explain what happened and ask how to return it safely. A real employer never sends you money to pass on to a third party, and forwarded funds can be reversed or traced to fraud.

Why would "HR" want my BVN before I start?

A genuine employer doesn't need your BVN, card details or banking logins before you've signed a contract. A legitimate payroll provider may verify your identity and collect account details after you sign, inside its own platform. A request for your BVN over WhatsApp or email before that point is a red flag.

How can I tell whether a Deel or Remote.com onboarding email is real?

Don't click the link. Type the platform's address into your browser or open its app, then log in. If a real company has engaged you, your invitation or contract will be in your account, under the company you interviewed with. Payroll platforms don't charge workers to activate an account.

Can a fake offer letter use a real company's name and logo?

Yes. The FTC and FBI both describe scammers copying real company names, logos and letterheads, and building lookalike career websites. A polished letter proves nothing. Check the offer with the company through contact details you found yourself.

I was paid a small amount for tasks. Does that mean the job is real?

No. Small early payouts are a feature of task scams: they build trust before you're asked to deposit your own money to reach larger earnings. If any "job" asks you to pay in order to get paid, it's a scam.

Does WorkRemote charge to apply for jobs listed on the site?

No. Applying is always free, and WorkRemote never charges to apply for a job. WorkRemote reviews listings and aims to publish genuine remote roles open to applicants from Nigeria, but it can't check every detail, and employers decide who they hire. Run the checks in this guide on any offer you receive.

Key takeaways

• Fake remote job offers usually reveal themselves when money or sensitive documents come into play, not in the first message.
• A professional-looking offer letter proves nothing. Check the sender's domain, the careers page and the recruiter yourself.
• No genuine employer asks you to pay for a job, buy kit from its "vendor", or forward money it has sent you.
• BVN, card details, OTPs and banking logins should never be shared before a signed contract, and PINs and OTPs never at all.
• Verify through contact details you find yourself, never ones the recruiter supplies.
• If you've already responded, call your bank first, then report to the NPF-NCCC and the platform involved.

Next steps

Before your next offer arrives, read our full guide to remote job scams in Nigeria so you can spot problems at the advert stage too, and learn how dollar salaries actually reach Nigerian accounts so a fake payment setup stands out. When you're ready to apply, browse remote jobs open to applicants in Nigeria. Each listing shows the company, its website and where applicants may live, which gives you a head start on the checks above. After a search, you can save it with "Get email updates" to receive a free daily digest of new matching roles.

Sources

• Job scammers go even lower in the way they "hire", FTC Business Blog (3 August 2023)
• How to spot the latest job scams, FTC Consumer Alert (11 December 2023)
• Job Scams, FTC Consumer Advice
• How To Spot, Avoid, and Report Fake Check Scams, FTC Consumer Advice
• New FTC Data Show Skyrocketing Consumer Reports About Game-Like Online Job Scams, FTC (12 December 2024)
• Cyber Criminals Use Fake Job Listings to Target Applicants' Personally Identifiable Information, FBI IC3 PSA I-012120-PSA (21 January 2020)
• Information on candidate phishing scams, Greenhouse
• How to avoid job scams, Remotive Help Centre
• NPF-NCCC National Cybercrime Centre E-Reporting Portal, Nigeria Police Force
• ICANN Lookup, ICANN