A new job should never ask you to send money

Here is how this scam can go. An offer comes fast, perhaps for work from home and with no real interview, and a cheque arrives for supplies, tools or a starter kit. Then a second message says to send part of the money back, or to a supplier, or to buy gift cards. Your bank shows the cheque as money in your account, so it feels safe to do. Later the bank finds the cheque was fake and takes the money back. What you sent is gone.

If a new employer sends you a cheque and asks you to send any of the money to anyone, or asks you to pay to get the job, send nothing: both are scams.

That is the line the US Federal Trade Commission draws. In the UK, Report Fraud, the police fraud-reporting service, and the Disclosure and Barring Service warn about the payment half of it. This page is for offers from someone who has not paid you for work yet. If you are already working and a repayment is written into your contract, the section called “When paying is not the scam” is yours.

Why the money in your account proves nothing

In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission explains that banks have to make deposited money available quickly. Seeing the money does not mean the cheque is good. A fake cheque can take weeks to be found. By then you have sent real money, and you owe the bank. The Commission says fake cheques can look just like real ones, even to bank staff, and that cashier’s cheques, money orders and cheques delivered electronically can be fake too. In the UK, the Financial Ombudsman Service lists the same trouble among the complaints it hears: cheques returned unpaid after the bank had credited them, and counterfeit bankers’ drafts returned unpaid.

Some people describe the same trick in a job offer. A large fake cheque or money order arrives, and you are told to send part of it back for supplies, tools or a starter kit. The cheque bounces later, and you owe the money you sent and the bank’s fees. One person describes a version that asks you to buy gift cards or software with the money.

The Commission lists jobs it has seen used this way: mystery shopper, personal assistant, nanny or caregiver, and virtual assistant. It says no honest potential employer will send you a cheque to deposit and then tell you to send on part of the money, or to buy gift cards with it. Its advice for any cheque is to never use the money from it to send gift cards, money orders, cryptocurrency or a wire transfer to someone who asks you to. Once you do, it says, it is like handing over cash and it is almost impossible to get back.

Paying to get the job is the other half

Many people say that if you must pay the company to get, keep or start the job, it is a scam, and some people say to walk away. The Commission says the same thing plainly: honest employers, including the federal government, will never ask you to pay to get a job, and anyone who does is a scammer. It names starter kits, so-called training and useless certifications as things people end up paying for in work-from-home scams. It says honest placement firms do not usually charge job candidates a fee, and that if one asks you for a fee, especially one you must pay in advance, you should walk away. It also says it is always free to apply for a federal or postal job.

In the UK, the Disclosure and Barring Service says never to send money before starting a job, including for training, uniforms or a DBS check, which in most instances the employer should provide. Report Fraud describes fraudsters who ask for payments up front for equipment, training or security checks, promise the money back, and then stop answering. It also describes fake jobs abroad where one fee leads to the next, such as a visa fee and then a deposit on accommodation, and fraudsters who ask for your bank details to “set up your pay” and use them to take money from your account. One person says a large deposit to guarantee a teaching job abroad is highly suspicious.

Some people say these offers are aimed at students and recent graduates, sometimes as an internship, and that scams reach beyond the obvious ones: some “employers” collect fees from applicants, and some ask for unpaid work such as building an app as a “trial”. One person answered a complaint that this advice is too basic by saying that even college graduates fall for these schemes.

This site has a separate page, “A job does not sell you the kit”, for offers where the “job” is selling a company’s products.

Other signs

Some people say a real employer screens its applicants, so being hired at once with no real interview is a warning sign. The Disclosure and Barring Service lists a job offer without an interview as a sign of a job scam and says to ask to meet the hiring manager face to face or online. It also lists an unrealistic salary, and an advert that leaves out basic details such as duties, hours and pay. Report Fraud adds an employer who writes only from a personal webmail address, and poor spelling and grammar in the documents. The Commission says reshipping goods, which means receiving packages at home and sending them on, is never a real job.

If it has already happened

The first call is to the company that moved the money, whatever you paid with: your bank, a payment app, a gift card company or a wire service. Then report it. The box at the top of this page and the guide on this site called “I paid a scammer, or think I’ve been scammed” have the steps in order. This page could not find an official step for a cheque you have deposited but have not acted on. Your bank is the one that can say whether the cheque has been paid.

The Commission says these cheques can look real even to bank staff, so being caught by one says little about how careful you were.

When paying is not the scam

The line is not that any payment means a scam. But paying a new employer to get the job is still the scam above. Some people point out that paying for training is not always a scam, because in some places an employer can lawfully recover training costs if the contract says so. They say the conditions are an agreement made beforehand, a reasonable cost, and a skill you can use elsewhere. One person says such a clause can feel like a trap even where it is lawful. Another says an employer may waive it or agree a buyout in some cases.

In the UK, Acas says an employer may be able to take money for a training course out of your final pay only if that was agreed in the contract or in writing beforehand. Its example is an agreement to repay the costs if you leave within 6 months, and it says the agreement must be in writing before the course starts. It says a deduction for training you were required to do must not take your pay below the National Minimum Wage. A deduction can take your final pay below it only if you agreed in writing to repay, the training was voluntary, and you chose to leave or were dismissed because of your conduct. In the US, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s July 2023 report on what it calls training repayment agreements says many businesses call training in return for a period of service mutually beneficial. It also describes workers who were unsure how much they owed or for how long, whose terms changed after they accepted the job, or whose training was priced well above what the employer paid for it. The Bureau said in 2023 that it intended to look at whether such agreements break consumer finance law; this page did not check what it has done since. Some people say whether an agreement can be enforced varies by place, and this page did not check each US state’s rules.

Free help before you sign anything that says you would owe money if you leave: in the UK, the Acas helpline or Citizens Advice; in the US, a legal aid office through LawHelp.org, or your state labor office.

Some other payments are not the same scam. One person says ordinary business costs, such as gas, rent, tools or business clothes, are acceptable, and that the sign of a scam is handing the employer money directly to be allowed to work, or being forced to buy only its own branded goods. For the in-between cases, some people give one test: after your costs, does the work leave you paid? If the income covers the costs and leaves a profit, they say it is legitimate, and if the costs eat the whole wage, they call it exploitative. Some people say hairdressers, barbers, tattooists and personal trainers often rent a chair or space from a shop. They say this sits between having a job and running a business, and that it can turn into paying to be allowed to work. One person says some school districts ask applicants to pay for fingerprints and ID cards before pay is agreed. Another person answered that this is a paperwork step, not a fee for the job itself, though it is still a cost to you. In the UK, the Disclosure and Barring Service’s advice, given above, is to send no money for a DBS check before you start. This page did not check the US rules on fingerprint fees. For any request like that, Report Fraud’s advice is to check the organisation exists and contact it through its officially listed contact details. The Commission’s advice is to search the company’s name with the words scam, review or complaint, and to describe the offer to someone you trust, which also gives you time to think.

Buying your own tools or work clothes is a separate argument, below.

Who this page is not for

If your employer says it overpaid your wages, this page does not cover that. If a “job” is selling a company’s products or recruiting others, read “A job does not sell you the kit”. If you are selling something online and a buyer sends a cheque for too much, read “A buyer never needs you to send money”. If you must repay training costs under a contract you have already signed, this page gives the general lines above and cannot tell you what your contract means; a free adviser can. And outside the United States and the United Kingdom, none of the official lines here have been checked for you.