Every week, someone sends me a screenshot of a “guaranteed” job offer abroad and asks the same question: is this real? Some are genuine. Many are not. The difference is rarely obvious at first glance, and that is exactly what scammers count on.
Before you send anyone money for a job abroad, run the offer through the checks below. A genuine offer survives every one of them. A fake one starts shaking at the second.
The red flags
- You are asked to pay an individual, in cash or by personal transfer, for the job, the visa or “processing”.
- The offer letter has no company letterhead, no registered address and no named contact you can call.
- “Guaranteed visa” or “100% success”. No employer, agency or consultant can guarantee a visa; the embassy decides.
- The entire interview happens on WhatsApp and never from a company email address.
- Pressure to pay immediately or the “slot” disappears.
How to verify an offer yourself
- Search the employer: an official website, a registered address you can confirm, and a LinkedIn page with real, reachable employees.
- Match the job to the country’s official work permit route on that government’s immigration website. If the permit category the agent named does not exist, walk away.
- Insist on a written contract that names the employer, your salary, your hours and the duration before any payment.
- Ask exactly which visa category you will apply under, and check that it matches the job.
- Every payment goes to a company account with a proper invoice and receipt, never to a personal account.
What a genuine process looks like
Genuine employers and licensed agencies are patient. They explain their fees up front, they let you take the documents to a lawyer or a trusted counselor, they give honest timelines instead of “next week”, and they answer questions without taking offence. If a deal only makes sense when you act fast and ask nothing, that is not a deal; that is the trap.
How we screen the roles we publish
Work mobility roles reach our list only after we have checked the employer and the permit route behind the offer. If a detail does not survive verification, it does not get published. You can see the current verified openings here.
Planning to work abroad this year? Start with a free assessment and speak with a counselor who will tell you honestly what your profile can support.
Subscribe to my YouTube channel, https://youtube.com/@abrahamomojowoglobal, for free weekly lessons on study abroad, visas, work mobility and growing your career with AI, and help me reach 1,000 subscribers.
Abraham Omojowo is the co-founder of Pincel Unified Global, with years of experiences counseling in the study and work abroad with deep insight in admission and visa compliance processes.