Job scams: warning signs and how to protect yourself

A real job opening never charges you to take part in the hiring process. A request for payment of a fee, training, or uniform before hiring, pressure to decide fast, and contact only through a messaging app are the main signs of a scam. If you notice any of them, stop, confirm the opening through an official company channel, and do not send money or documents.

Signs the job may be a scam

• Fees charged for registration, a course, materials, or a medical exam before hiring.
• A promised salary far above the market rate for a simple role.
• Contact only through WhatsApp or Telegram, with no corporate email or company phone number.
• Rushing you to answer and threatening that you will lose the spot.
• Requests for passwords, codes received by SMS, or photos of your face and documents right at the first contact.
• Shortened links or websites with an address similar to the company's but with swapped letters.

In September 2025, the Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego (MTE, Ministry of Labor and Employment) warned that a message about hiring processes for the Correios (Brazilian postal service) was fake, using the agency's name and demanding payment of fees. The ministry stated that this type of charge is an attempted scam.

How to check whether the job is real

1. Look up the company on its official website, typing the address yourself, and see whether the job is on the careers page.
2. Call the phone number listed on the website, not the number in the message.
3. Look up the recruiter's name and the company, as well as the CNPJ (Brazilian company tax ID), on the Receita Federal (Federal Revenue Service) website.
4. Check the email address: it should use the company's domain.
5. For public exams and hiring by public agencies, check the notice (edital) on the agency's own website.
6. For jobs through the Sistema Nacional de Emprego (SINE, National Employment System), use only the government's official channels. The Ministry of Labor has the hotline 158 and the Fale Conosco (Contact Us) form on the gov.br portal.

Protecting your data

A résumé contains your CPF (Brazilian individual taxpayer ID), address, and phone number, which can be used for fraud. Send personal documents only after you are approved, preferably to a company email address, and never share your gov.br password, your bank password, or a verification code. In video interviews, be wary of requests to capture your face in unfamiliar apps.

See what can actually be requested at hiring in Admissão: documentos e etapas até o primeiro dia de trabalho.

What to do if you fall for a scam

• Keep conversations, receipts, links, and ads, with date and time.
• Notify your bank immediately if you made a payment or provided bank details.
• File a police report (boletim de ocorrência), including through your state civil police's online services. Obtaining an advantage by deceiving someone may constitute fraud (estelionato, art. 171 of the Código Penal, Brazilian Penal Code), and the law provides a harsher penalty for electronic fraud.
• Report the ad to the platform where it was posted.
• Change your passwords and turn on two-step verification on your accounts.

Frequently asked questions

Can a company charge me for the pre-employment medical exam?

No. The medical exam at hiring is paid for by the employer (art. 168 of the Consolidação das Leis do Trabalho (CLT, Brazilian Labor Code)).

Does SINE charge to register you or refer you to jobs?

SINE is a public service, and the Ministry of Labor treats charging a fee in a hiring process as a sign of a scam. Be wary of any charge made in the agency's name.

Is it normal to be asked for a photo of my ID in an interview?

As a rule, documents are requested at the hiring stage. Before that, confirm that the company and the job are real.

Read also

• SINE e vagas gratuitas: como se cadastrar e procurar emprego
• Entrevista de emprego: perguntas comuns e como responder
• Carteira de Trabalho Digital (Digital Work Card): como consultar e corrigir