What to Do If a Remote Job Recruiter Asks for Money
A recruiter asking you to pay for a remote job is a scam signal. What to reply, how to check, what to do if you paid, and where to report in Nigeria.
By Chiamaka Obi, Pay and contracts writer
Updated 15 min read
If a recruiter asks you for money to get a remote job, don't pay, and treat the job as a scam until you can prove otherwise. Real recruiters are paid by the employer, not by you. That holds whether the fee is called "registration", "training", "equipment", "background check" or a "refundable deposit".
The request usually comes on WhatsApp or Telegram, just after a quick "interview" and an offer that pays well in dollars. The person is often friendly and patient until you hesitate. Then come deadlines and the line "other candidates are waiting".
This guide covers what to do in the first few minutes: how to reply, how to check the recruiter without tipping them off, and which costs are genuinely yours to pay. It also covers what to do in the first hour if you've already sent money from a Nigerian bank or fintech app, and where to report it, in Nigeria and abroad.
Quick answer
Don't send money, and don't argue with the recruiter. Save the chat, the email addresses, the account numbers and the job ad. Then find the company's official careers page yourself and check that the role and the recruiter are real. Report the account on the platform where they contacted you. If you've already paid, call your bank or payment app straight away and ask them to flag the transaction. Then report to the Nigeria Police National Cybercrime Centre or the EFCC.
Why a genuine recruiter will not ask you to pay
Recruitment works one way round almost everywhere. The employer pays the agency or recruiter a fee for filling the role, and the candidate pays nothing. This is written into international labour standards and into national rules, so it isn't just a matter of manners.
- International standard: Article 7 of the International Labour Organization's Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181) says private employment agencies "shall not charge directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, any fees or costs to workers". Governments can allow narrow exceptions, but only after consulting employer and worker organisations, and only in the workers' interest.
- United Kingdom: UK government guidance on employment agencies and businesses says agencies cannot charge a fee to a work-seeker for finding them work. Entertainment and modelling agencies follow separate rules.
- United States: The Federal Trade Commission's job scams guidance says honest employers "will never ask you to pay to get a job". It tells you to walk away if a placement firm asks for a fee, especially one paid in advance.
- LinkedIn: LinkedIn's scam guidance says legitimate companies should not require transfers, cheques, gift cards or wired funds as part of applying.
- Nigeria: Companies that want to run a recruitment service in Nigeria must get a recruiter's licence from the Federal Ministry of Labour under sections 23 to 25 of the Labour Act, according to a Legal500 summary of the licensing rules. A Nigerian "agency" that charges you is not proof of a scam on its own. But a licensed agency should be able to show its licence, and you can confirm it with the Ministry.
Remote jobs with foreign companies make this even clearer. The employer is abroad, the contract is usually signed electronically, and pay arrives through payroll, an employer of record (EOR) or a contractor platform. A Nigerian jobseeker has no legitimate reason to send money into any of that.
The fees scammers ask for, and what is really going on
Scammers rarely say "send me money". They give the payment a name that sounds like part of hiring. Here is how the common versions look when the request comes from someone presenting themselves as a recruiter or HR manager.
| What they ask for | What is really going on |
|---|---|
| Registration or processing fee | No real recruiter charges this. It's the scam itself. |
| Training or onboarding fee | Real employers pay for their own training. |
| Laptop or software from "our vendor" | Usually a fake cheque or a straight theft. |
| Background check fee | Employers pay for checks through their own providers. |
| Work permit or visa fee for a remote job | You don't need a foreign work permit to work from Nigeria. |
| "Refundable" deposit or security bond | The refund never comes. |
| Top-up to release task earnings | A task scam. Each top-up gets bigger. |
| Paid "certification test" before the offer | Real assessments are free to candidates. |
The equipment cheque trick
This one deserves its own explanation because it fools careful people. The "employer" sends a cheque or a screenshot of a payment and tells you to buy equipment from their approved vendor. The vendor is the scammer.
The FTC explains that the cheque bounces later and the bank can make you repay the whole amount, so you lose whatever you passed on. Its rule is simple: any offer that has you deposit a cheque and then send part of the money anywhere is a scam. In Nigeria the same trick often shows up as a fake "credit alert" SMS or a doctored transfer receipt.
Task scams
In April 2026 the FTC warned about text messages offering remote jobs such as "online assessor", sent by fake recruiters claiming to represent well-known companies. The "job" is rating products or liking posts. Early tasks show small earnings, then you're told to deposit your own money to get bigger tasks or to withdraw. The FTC's line: "Never pay to get paid or get a job".
The work permit story
Nigerian jobseekers hear one version more than most. A "UK" or "Canadian" company says you need a work permit, visa processing or an embassy fee before you can start a remote role. If you live in Nigeria and work from Nigeria for a foreign company, that company does not need you to hold its country's work visa. If you're unsure, our planned guide on whether you need a visa to work remotely for a foreign company covers it.
Grey areas: costs that are not automatically a scam
Some money spent while job hunting is legitimate. What matters is who asked for it, who receives it, and whether it's a condition of being hired.
- Services you chose yourself. A CV writer, a course, a paid job board membership or a certification exam you found and decided to buy is a purchase, not a hiring fee. WorkRemote, for example, never charges to apply for any job on our remote job listings. Paid help with CVs or interviews is optional and separate from any employer's decision.
- Your own working setup as a contractor. Independent contractors usually supply their own laptop, internet and backup power. You buy them from any shop you like. A recruiter does not tell you which seller to pay.
- Government fees for a move you are making. If you apply for a digital nomad visa, you pay the issuing government through its official channel. You don't pay a recruiter who says they'll "handle it".
Three questions sort almost every case:
- Did the recruiter or "employer" ask for the money, or did you decide to buy something?
- Is the payment a condition of getting or keeping the job?
- Does the money go to an individual, a personal account, a crypto wallet or an "approved vendor" instead of a recognised organisation you can check?
If the recruiter asked, it's a condition, and it goes to an account you can't trace to the real company, don't pay.
What to do right now if a recruiter asks for money
Work through these in order. They take less than an hour, and none of them commits you to anything.
- Don't pay, and don't promise to pay. Pressure such as "the slot closes today" is part of the script. A genuine offer doesn't disappear because you took a day to check it.
- Stop sending personal documents. Hold back your NIN, BVN, passport, bank login, card details or one-time codes. If you've already sent some, see the section on documents below.
- Save the evidence before they delete it. Screenshot the whole chat, including the profile, phone number and username. Save emails with their full sender address. Note any account number, bank name, wallet address or payment link they sent. Scammers often wipe chats once they realise you won't pay.
- Find the company yourself. Search the company's name and go to its official website. Look for the role on its careers page or its official applicant tracking page (Greenhouse, Lever, Workable, Ashby and similar). Check whether the recruiter's email domain matches the company's real domain. A Gmail, Yahoo or look-alike domain is a warning sign, and LinkedIn's guidance flags generic domains too.
- Contact the company through its official channels. Use the contact details on the company's own website, not the ones the recruiter gave you, and ask whether the person and the vacancy are real. Large companies often have a recruitment fraud notice on their careers site.
- Report the account. On LinkedIn, open the job's details page, click the More icon, choose "Report this job" and then "I think it's spam or a scam", following LinkedIn's reporting steps. For a scam message, LinkedIn asks you to contact it through its help form. On WhatsApp and Telegram, use the in-app report and block options.
- Decline in writing, briefly. You don't owe a scammer an argument, but a short written refusal leaves a clear record.
For a step-by-step method to check any company, see our planned guide on verifying whether an international employer is legitimate. If the contact came through LinkedIn, the planned guide to spotting fake recruiters on LinkedIn goes further.
Example (hypothetical): a short reply you can send
"Thank you for the offer. I don't pay fees to apply for or accept a job. If the role is genuine, please send the offer from your company email address and confirm that no payment is needed. I'll then confirm the vacancy with your company directly."
A real recruiter will answer that without trouble. A scammer will push harder, change the story ("it's refundable") or disappear. Any of those three tells you what you need to know.
If you have already paid
Speed matters more than anything else here. The FTC's advice is to contact whoever you used to send the money straight away, report the fraud and ask whether the payment can be reversed. It also warns that reversal isn't always possible. That advice applies just as much to Nigerian banks and fintech apps.
The first hour
- Call your bank or payment app's official support line. Use the number on the back of your card or in the app, never a number someone sends you. Say it's a fraudulent transfer, give the amount, time and receiving account, and ask them to flag it and contact the receiving bank.
- Get a written record. Ask for a reference number or an email confirming your complaint. You'll need it for the police and for any follow-up.
- Secure your accounts. If you shared login details, one-time codes or card numbers, change passwords and PINs and ask the bank to block the card. Turn on two-factor authentication for your email.
- Stop paying. Scammers often ask for a second "release" or "clearance" payment to refund the first. Every follow-up payment is lost too.
How likely you are to get money back, by payment method
This is general guidance. Each bank, card issuer and platform has its own dispute process and deadlines.
| How you paid | What to try |
|---|---|
| Bank transfer (NIP) | Report to your bank immediately and ask it to contact the receiving bank. Faster reports have a better chance. |
| Debit or virtual dollar card | Ask the card issuer about a dispute or chargeback. |
| Fintech wallet or dollar account | Report in the app and by email, with screenshots. |
| Crypto (USDT, BTC) | Recovery is unlikely. Report anyway and keep the wallet address. |
| Gift cards | Contact the card brand quickly with the card numbers. |
Example (hypothetical): Tolu paid a $150 "onboarding fee" to a fake HR manager. That's about ₦204,300 at ₦1,362 to $1 (CBN NFEM weighted average, 23 October 2026). She called her bank within 30 minutes, got a complaint reference, then filed a police cybercrime report the same day. Acting fast doesn't guarantee a refund, but waiting a week almost guarantees there won't be one.
Watch out for recovery scams
After you report a scam publicly, you may hear from "recovery agents", "hackers" or fake EFCC or police officers offering to get your money back for a fee. That's a second scam. Law enforcement agencies don't charge victims to investigate. Our planned guide on what to do if you've been scammed by a fake employer covers the aftermath, including mental and financial recovery, in more detail.
If you shared your NIN, BVN, passport or bank details
Money is not the only thing at risk. A scammer holding your BVN, NIN, passport scan and selfie can try to open loans or accounts, or pass themselves off as you.
- Tell your bank you may have exposed your BVN and card details, and ask what extra protection it offers.
- Change your email password first, because email resets everything else.
- Watch for loan app messages or account-opening alerts you didn't request.
- Keep a dated note of exactly what you sent, and to whom.
Two planned guides go further: protecting your identity during remote job applications and what to know before sending your passport to a recruiter.
Where to report a recruiter who asked for money
Report even if you didn't pay. Your report helps platforms take down the account before it reaches the next person.
| Where | When to use it |
|---|---|
| Your bank or payment app | Always, first, if money left your account |
| Nigeria Police National Cybercrime Centre | Online scams, whether or not you paid |
| EFCC | Fraud involving money, especially large sums or organised groups |
| LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Telegram, the job board | The account or ad that contacted you |
| The real company being impersonated | When the scammer used a genuine company's name |
| FTC (ReportFraud) | When a US company's name was used or a US platform was involved |
Nigeria Police National Cybercrime Centre
The Nigeria Police Force moved its online cybercrime reporting to the National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) e-reporting portal. The upgrade was announced in May 2024, and TechEconomy reported that the earlier incb.npf.gov.ng site was now obsolete. Ignore older articles that point to it. You can also report at your nearest police station. Portal details as of October 2026.
Efcc
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission takes fraud reports online, by phone, by email and in person at its offices. Sterling Bank's fraud-reporting guide lists these EFCC channels alongside the police and your bank. Confirm the current phone lines and addresses on the EFCC's official website (efcc.gov.ng) before you use them. Fraudsters have set up fake "EFCC" pages and recruitment portals.
What to include in any report
- The recruiter's name, profile link, phone number and email address
- The job ad or message that first contacted you
- Every payment detail: amount, date, time, account name and number, bank, wallet address
- Screenshots of the conversation, with dates showing
- Your bank complaint reference, if you paid
Why Nigerian jobseekers see these requests so often
Scammers go where demand is high and checking is hard. Many Nigerians want remote work paid in dollars, many genuine employers are abroad and unfamiliar, and much early contact happens on WhatsApp and Telegram, where anyone can call themselves an HR manager. Fake offers also tend to share a profile: high pay for easy work, a quick chat "interview", a rushed start date, and a fee somewhere between the offer and the first payday.
Genuine international hiring doesn't work like that. You usually apply through a careers page or a recognised job board, have one or more video interviews with named people on the company's domain, and receive a written contract. Pay then arrives through payroll, an EOR or a contractor platform. Our guide on how to spot remote job scams in Nigeria explains the wider set of warning signs. The planned guide on remote job scams on Telegram and WhatsApp covers the chat-app versions in detail.
Frequently asked questions
Is it ever normal for a recruiter to ask for money?
No. Under ILO Convention 181, UK agency rules and FTC guidance, recruiters get their fees from employers, not candidates. The narrow exceptions some countries allow don't apply to a remote job with a foreign company that you're applying for from Nigeria.
The recruiter says the fee is refundable. Does that make it safe?
No. "Refundable" is a sales line to lower your guard. If the employer wanted you to have equipment or training, it would provide it or pay for it, not ask you to pay first and wait for a refund.
What if the company is real but the recruiter is asking for money?
Then someone is probably impersonating that company, or a middleman is acting without its approval. Contact the company through its official website, tell it what happened and send screenshots. Many companies publish recruitment fraud warnings on their careers pages.
Can I get my money back after paying a fake recruiter?
Sometimes, if you act very quickly. Call your bank or payment app immediately and ask it to flag the transfer and contact the receiving bank, then report to the police cybercrime portal. Crypto and gift card payments are much harder to recover. Never pay anyone who promises to get your money back.
Do I need to pay for a work permit to work remotely for a UK, US or Canadian company?
No, not if you live and work in Nigeria. A foreign company hiring you to work from Nigeria doesn't need you to hold its country's work visa. A "work permit fee" for a remote role is a common scam story.
A Nigerian agency wants a registration fee. Is that legal?
Recruitment agencies in Nigeria need a recruiter's licence from the Federal Ministry of Labour, and international standards say agencies shouldn't charge workers. Ask for the licence, check it with the Ministry, and don't pay a fee to be considered for a remote role.
I paid a CV writer. Was that a scam?
Not necessarily. Paying for a service you chose is different from a recruiter making payment a condition of getting hired. It becomes suspicious when the "recruiter" insists you use their own CV writer or trainer before they'll put you forward.
Should I report the recruiter if I didn't lose any money?
Yes. Report the account on the platform where they contacted you and, if you can, to the NPF-NCCC portal. A report filed before anyone pays is often the one that gets the account removed.
Key takeaways
- A recruiter asking you for money to get or start a remote job is a scam signal, whatever the fee is called.
- International and national rules (ILO C181, UK agency rules, FTC guidance) say recruiters are paid by employers, not candidates.
- Before you reply, save the evidence, then check the recruiter and the role through the company's own website and email domain.
- If you've paid, call your bank or app's official line within minutes, get a complaint reference, and report to the NPF-NCCC or EFCC.
- Ignore anyone who offers to "recover" your money for a fee.
Next steps
Look for remote roles through channels where applying is free and the employer is named. On WorkRemote's remote job listings, each listing shows the company, its website and where applicants may live, so you can check them before you apply. WorkRemote reviews listings and aims to publish genuine remote roles open to applicants from Nigeria, but it can't check every detail, so still verify the company yourself. After you search, you can save the search as a free email job alert so new matching roles reach you, instead of waiting for strangers on Telegram to message you. To prepare a stronger application, start with the remote career guides by role.
Sources
- Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), ILO text hosted by ITCILO
- Employment agencies and businesses, GOV.UK
- Job Scams, US Federal Trade Commission
- That job offer text? It's probably a scam, FTC consumer alert, 30 April 2026
- Recognize and report scams, LinkedIn Help
- Reporting jobs on LinkedIn, LinkedIn Help
- NPF launches enhanced platform, NPF National Cybercrime Centre
- Nigeria Police launches platform for reporting cybercrime, TechEconomy (31 May 2024)
- Don't Be a Victim: 4 Ways to Report Fraud and Protect Yourself in Nigeria, Sterling Bank
- Recruiter's License Nigeria, Legal500 (27 February 2020)
- CBN exchange rates by currency, Central Bank of Nigeria
