If you have not come across a fake job offer letter, sooner or later you will. Sometimes it looks so real, many have fallen victims out of ignorance or frustration. This post will help you identify a fake employment/job offer letter and avoid being scammed. A fake employment letter is a letter of job offer sent by scam agents across the internet, they claim to be a representative of a company.

The following are some tips to identify a fake job offer letter:
You don’t remember applying to any job from that company.
This is the first thing you should think through. Did you ever applied to any job from the company? If you didn’t, simply ignore the offer and move on.

Did you attend any job interview?:
Most employers only offer an employment letter to candidates who meet their requirements after interview and accessment process. So if you get a job offer without an interview/prior contact with the company you should verify the legitimacy and authenticity of the offer.

Research the company:
Just like you do before applying for any job you should conduct a research on any company you receive job offer from, find out about the company’s location, mission, services etc. If you don’t find any information or very little information its probably a scam.

You are offered a high salary with little or no experience:
If the job offers extremely high salaries, numerous benefits and flexibility in return for little or no experience it is likely to be a scam. Many individuals receive job offer letters that detail “too good to be true” criteria, which is often the case as these are sent by unscrupulous agents who are scamming unsuspecting job seekers.

Check the email address (Who actually sent it):
Most scammers use email service providers such as hotmail, yahoo, gmail etc to send these fake employment letters. So when you receive such offers check the email, companies usually send offers from email address under their website address Eg an email from shell will look like xyz@shell.com rather than shell@yahoo.com.

Spelling mistakes and grammar errors:
All emails received from the company that is offering you the job should be composed in a professional and formal manner. The email with the offer letter should follow appropriate email etiquette. Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors are a red flag that indicate unprofessionalism as well as lack of knowledge. This includes exclamation marks within the offer letter as well as random capitalization of words.

Money/Payment required:
Just like in job search the easiest method of recognizing a fake job offer letter is when you are requested to pay or transfer money. An employer who requires the individual to transfer a certain amount of money into the company’s/personal account is a definite sign of a job scam. If you see this in your job offer letter, it is important to report the job and ensure that others do not fall victim to the same scam.

However it is pernitent to note that some companies may access your CV through job boards or recruitment agencies through which you have applied for job before. In such cases you may have not applied to the company. However, the company in question is expected to let you know how they got across to you and will usually require you attend an interview. Whichever the case, you should always research on any company offering you an employment.

Source: http://blog.ngcareers.com