Staying safe from job scams
Everybody says "beware of scams" and nobody knows what to do with that. So instead, here is exactly what a real message from us looks like. Once you know that, a fake one is obvious the moment it lands.
Driving, warehouse and care work are targeted harder than anything else, because people applying need work quickly and are used to being asked for documents. Being cautious is not being difficult.
Five things we will never do
We never ask you for money. For anything.
Not for finding you work, not for a CV, not for training, not for a DBS check, not for a uniform, not for an induction, and not for a deposit on equipment. It is against the law for us to charge a work-seeker, and it is our own rule as well. Anybody who asks you for money in our name is not us.
We never message you on WhatsApp or Telegram.
Every message from us comes by email from an address ending @hiringuk.co.uk, or by telephone from a person who will give you their name and a reference. We do not run recruitment through chat apps, and we never send a job offer through one.
We never ask for a code from a text message.
Not a bank code, not a verification code, not a code somebody has just sent you. Anybody asking for one is taking over an account, and it is never us.
We never ask for your bank details to give you a job.
If you go on our payroll as a temporary worker we will ask for your bank details, in writing, at the point you are being set up to be paid, and never before an offer. No employer on this board should ever ask you to pay them, or to send money for a 'security check'.
We never ask you to buy your own equipment through a link we send.
A real employer supplies what the job needs or tells you plainly what to bring. A link to a shop is a scam every single time.
What a real message from us looks like
- Email from an address ending @hiringuk.co.uk. Never a free address, never a lookalike domain.
- It uses your name and mentions the specific advert you applied to.
- It carries a reference you can quote back to us.
- It never has an attachment you did not expect, and never a link asking you to sign in to something.
- If we ring, we give a name, the company name and a reference, and we are happy for you to ring back on the address published on this site rather than a number we read out.
Signs an employer is not real
We screen every advert before it goes live and we refuse the ones that break our rules. Nothing is perfect, so here is what to look for. Any one of these is enough to walk away.
- Asks you to pay for training, a DBS check, a licence, a uniform or an induction before you start.
- Offers a job without ever speaking to you or seeing you.
- Uses a free email address rather than a company one, and will not give a company name or a registered address.
- Wants your passport, your national insurance number or your bank details before there is any offer.
- Pushes you to decide today, or says the job goes to somebody else in an hour.
- Pay that is far above the going rate for the work, with no explanation.
- Asks you to receive money into your account and send it on. That is money laundering, and the account holder is the one prosecuted.
If something is wrong, tell us
Report the advert and we look at it the same day. You do not need an account and you do not have to give your name. If it breaks the rules it comes down, and if somebody has used our name we want to know immediately.
If you have lost money, or given away details
- Ring your bank straight away using the number on the back of your card. They can often stop a payment that has just gone.
- Report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040, or online at actionfraud.police.uk. In Scotland, ring Police Scotland on 101.
- Change the password on any account you used the same password for.
- Tell us as well, so we can take the advert down and warn anybody else.
- And report it to JobsAware, which is free and is not us. It is a non-profit set up with the Metropolitan Police and run with the DWP, the National Crime Agency, City of London Police, National Trading Standards, Crimestoppers and the REC, and it exists for exactly this: job scams and unfair working practices. It sorts out what it can and passes the rest to whichever partner can act, so one report finds the right door without you having to know which door it is. Most people have never heard of it.
Nobody is stupid for being caught by this. These are professionals and they are good at it. The only mistake is staying quiet afterwards.
Our written promise on charges is in the website terms and the candidate data policy: work-seekers are never charged, for anything. That is section 6 of the Employment Agencies Act 1973 and it is also our own rule.