How to spot remote job scams in Nigeria
A remote job is a scam if anyone asks you to pay before you're paid: a training fee, a deposit to release more tasks, or money for equipment out of a payment they sent you. Real employers pay you, never the other way round, and they don't hire through a chat app with no proper interview.
By Chiamaka Obi, Pay and contracts writer
Updated 8 min read
In short
- If anyone asks you to pay before you're paid (a training fee, an "activation" fee, a deposit to release more tasks, money for equipment), it's a scam.
- Most fake offers now start with an unexpected message on Telegram, WhatsApp or SMS, and move fast. Real employers don't hire through a chat app with no interview.
- Before you reply, check the email domain, the company's own careers page and its registration. If you've already paid, call your bank first, then report to the police cybercrime portal and the EFCC.
Scammers follow remote job seekers because they know what you want: dollar pay, from home, quickly. Every pattern below is built on that. Learn them once and most fake offers become easy to spot.
The one rule: never pay to get paid
The US Federal Trade Commission puts it in one line: "Never pay anyone to get paid, or to get a job." Upwork tells freelancers that real clients "will never request money upfront, cash checks, request free work, or ask for personal information", and LinkedIn says legitimate companies "should not require transfers, checks, gift cards or the wiring of funds".
That rule catches nearly every scam in this article. The fee might be called training, onboarding, a medical test, a work permit, a laptop deposit or a tax. The name changes. The direction of the money doesn't.
The scams to know
Fake recruiters on Telegram and WhatsApp
You get a message out of nowhere: a "recruiter" saw your CV and has a remote role for you, with high hourly pay for a few hours a day and no experience needed. The FTC's April 2026 alert describes exactly this, with fake roles such as "online assessor", and says real employers will never contact you that way.
LinkedIn lists "urgent requests to move off-platform (e.g. Whatsapp/Telegram/external forms)" and early requests for banking details or ID photos as warning signs. A real recruiter may message you on LinkedIn, but they'll have a company email address, a job you can find on the company's site and an interview with a person.
Training, onboarding and "activation" fees
This is the oldest version and still common. You "pass" an interview, then you're told to pay for training, a starter kit or a certificate before you can start. A BusinessDay column by an outsourcing company CEO puts these fees at anywhere from ₦5,000 to ₦500,000.
Fake recruitment notices also borrow real names. In October 2026 the Nigeria Revenue Service warned that a recruitment notice in its name was fraudulent and told the public not to pay or share personal or financial details.
Task scams: like, rate, "boost" products
The job is simple: rate products, like videos or "optimise" apps. You see earnings building up in an app, and you may even get a small first payout. Then you're told to deposit your own money, usually crypto, to open the next set of tasks. That's where it ends: the FTC says "you'll never get those fake earnings".
The FTC's figures show how fast this grew. Task scam reports went from zero in 2020 to 5,000 in 2023 and about 20,000 in the first half of 2024 alone, when they made up nearly 40% of job scam reports. Its alerts name WhatsApp and Telegram as the usual starting point.
Cheque and equipment scams
The "employer" sends you money, often a cheque or a transfer, to buy equipment from their "approved vendor", or sends too much and asks you to refund the difference. The payment later turns out to be fake or reversed, and the money you sent on is gone. The FTC warns that seeing funds in your account "doesn't mean it's a good check", and Upwork notes your bank can hold you liable for the funds even after you've passed them on.
A real company sends equipment itself or reimburses you after you buy it. It never asks you to forward money to anyone.
Fake clients on Upwork and Fiverr
On freelance platforms the trick is to get you off the platform, where you lose its protection. Upwork calls pressure to talk outside Upwork before a contract starts "a red flag and a violation of our Terms of Service", and says handling payments outside Upwork "is a common scam technique". Fiverr adds a warning that matters if a "client" wants to watch you work: don't let anyone control your device through tools like TeamViewer or AnyDesk.
Investment schemes dressed as income
Some schemes sell themselves as a side income rather than a job. CBEX (CryptoBridge Exchange) promised to double money in 30 days with an AI trading bot. In April 2025 it restricted withdrawals and then demanded a further deposit of at least $100 before users could get their money out. TechCabal reported that Nigerians lost money believed to be in the millions of dollars. Paying to withdraw is the same trick as a task scam.
"Jobs" that make you the scammer
Some fake jobs are real jobs, just criminal ones. In December 2024 the EFCC arrested 792 people at a building in Victoria Island, Lagos, in connection with a cryptocurrency investment scam. According to BusinessDay, Nigerian recruits were hired for their typing skills, given two weeks' induction, then made to pose as foreigners and approach victims online. If a "customer support" or "chat agent" job asks you to use a fake name and talk people into investing, walk away.
How to check a company before you reply
| Check | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Email address | A company domain, not Gmail or Yahoo. Make sure the spelling of the domain matches the real company's website exactly. |
| The job itself | Find the same job on the company's own careers page. EY, for example, says all its real jobs require an application on the official EY Careers site. |
| Registration | Nigerian company: the free Public Search on the Corporate Affairs Commission site (name or RC number). UK: Companies House. Listed US companies: SEC EDGAR. |
| Interview | A live call or video call with a named person. The FTC flags employers who only want to interview over Signal or other text-only apps. |
| Money | Any request for a fee, a deposit, crypto, gift cards, or to forward money they sent you: stop there. |
| Personal details | BVN, card details, bank logins or ID photos before you have a written offer: don't send them. |
Real companies hiring from Nigeria often pay through Deel, Remote or Oyster, and scammers know this. If someone says you'll be paid through one of them, the invitation should come from that platform itself, to your email, and you should never pay anything to "activate" it. We explain how these platforms work in contractor vs employee and how to receive dollar payments.
If you've already paid
- Stop paying. Scammers often ask for "one last fee" to release your money. No further payment gets anything back.
- Call your bank's fraud line straight away. Give the date, amount and the receiving account, and ask for a reference number. If your bank doesn't resolve the complaint, the CBN says you can escalate to its Consumer Protection Department after giving the bank about two weeks, by letter to the Director, Consumer Protection Department, at the CBN head office in Abuja or any CBN branch.
- Report to the police. The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre takes reports online at nccc.npf.gov.ng/ereport/signin, the portal the police announced in May 2024.
- Report to the EFCC. The EFCC's Eagle Eye app, on the Apple and Google stores, lets you report economic crimes and promises anonymity. You can also go to an EFCC office.
- Report the profile or job. On LinkedIn, Upwork, Fiverr or a jobs board, report the account so the next person doesn't meet it.
- Keep everything. Screenshots of chats, the phone numbers, account numbers, wallet addresses and receipts. Investigators need them.
Be careful of anyone who contacts you afterwards offering to recover your money for a fee. That is usually the same people, or people like them, coming back for more.
A word on how we work
The WorkRemote jobs board lists roles that accept applicants from Nigeria, and you apply through the board or the company's own site. Membership is the only thing we charge for, and it's paid through workremote.ng, never by transfer to someone who messaged you. If anyone claiming to be from WorkRemote asks you to pay for a specific job, it isn't us.
Frequently asked questions
Is it normal to pay for training before a remote job starts?
No. Real employers train you at their own cost after hiring you. A request to pay for training, a starter kit or a certificate before you start is the most common sign of a job scam.
Are remote jobs advertised on Telegram real?
Some channels share real links, but a job that is offered to you directly in a Telegram or WhatsApp chat, with no company email or proper interview, is almost always fake. The FTC says real employers will never contact you that way.
How can I tell if a recruiter on LinkedIn is real?
Check that they work at the company they name, that the job appears on the company's careers page and that they write from a company email address. Be wary if they push you to move to a chat app or ask for bank details before an offer.
Can I get my money back after a job scam?
Sometimes, if you act quickly. Call your bank's fraud line at once, then report to the police cybercrime portal and the EFCC. Money sent as crypto is much harder to trace.
Are task apps that pay you to like videos legitimate?
No. The FTC calls them task scams: you see earnings build up, then you're asked to deposit your own money to continue, and the earnings never pay out.
Sources
- Task scams create the illusion of making money, US Federal Trade Commission, December 2024
- New FTC data show skyrocketing consumer reports about game-like online job scams, FTC, 12 December 2024
- That job offer text is probably a scam, FTC, 30 April 2026
- Searching for a job to work remotely? Avoid scams and identity theft, FTC, November 2023
- How to spot, avoid and report fake check scams, FTC
- How to stay safe on Upwork and Recognize red flags and avoid scams, Upwork Help
- Stay protected: Fiverr's off-platform policy, Fiverr Help
- Recognize and report scams, LinkedIn Help
- Recruitment fraud alert, EY
- The rise of recruitment fraud in Nigeria, BusinessDay (opinion), 8 May 2025
- Nigeria Revenue Service raises alarm over fake recruitment exercise, Nairametrics, 5 October 2026
- Thousands of Nigerians grapple with losses after CBEX heist, TechCabal, 19 April 2025
- EFCC has recovered part of money lost to CBEX, Nairametrics, 26 May 2025
- EFCC arrests 792 in connection with cryptocurrency scam, BusinessDay, 19 December 2024
- Complaints management, Central Bank of Nigeria, Consumer Protection Department
- Police launch platform for reporting cybercrime, WithinNigeria, 30 May 2024
- EFCC launches Eagle Eye app for online reporting of economic crimes, Ripples Nigeria, 14 July 2021
- How to check if a company is registered in Nigeria, Youverify, July 2022
