Remote job equipment scams: what to do when a recruiter sends a check

Separate equipment logistics from money movement

A real remote employer may provide a laptop, security key or other work equipment. The risk changes when a supposed recruiter sends a check, asks you to deposit it and directs you to buy equipment from a named supplier or return part of the money. That sequence makes you responsible for moving funds before the payment is known to be genuine.

Do not let a familiar job title, interview call or professional-looking document replace verification. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission warns that honest employers do not send a check and then tell a new hire to buy equipment or send money onward. A promise that you will be reimbursed later is not protection.

Why a cleared check can still leave you owing the bank

Banks may make deposited funds appear available before they discover that a check is fake. If you spend or transfer that money, the check can later be reversed and the bank may require you to repay the amount. A visible balance therefore does not prove that the payment is final or that the recruiter is legitimate.

Never send money, gift cards, cryptocurrency or a supplier payment because someone says the check has cleared. Do not share online-banking credentials or a one-time code so that a recruiter can help with a deposit. Keep the check, envelope, messages and payment instructions as evidence without acting on them.

Verify the employer and supplier independently

Find the organisation's official website yourself, open its careers page and contact a published phone number or email address. Do not use only the link or contact details sent in the recruitment message. Confirm the recruiter's name, the exact vacancy, the interview process and how equipment is normally issued.

Inspect the full email domain and application URL. A display name can imitate a company while the underlying address belongs elsewhere. Unexpected generic job messages on text, WhatsApp or Telegram deserve additional checking; the channel alone is not proof of fraud, but it should never be your only evidence.

Use the remote-job verification checklist →

Act quickly if you deposited the check or sent money

Contact your bank or payment provider through its official number, explain that the transaction may be connected to a fake-check job scam and ask what can still be stopped or recalled. Preserve screenshots, email headers, phone numbers, receipts, the listing and the original check. Do not continue negotiating with the sender in an attempt to recover the loss yourself.

Report the fake listing to the platform where you found it and use the fraud-reporting route that applies in your country. If you disclosed a password, change it from a trusted device, secure the email account first and review recovery details and active sessions.

Secure your job-search email after a suspicious message →

Use this equipment-payment safety check

• Stop if a recruiter sends a check and tells you to buy equipment or return money.
• Verify the vacancy and recruiter through contact details you found independently.
• Do not treat an available bank balance as proof that a check is genuine.
• Never reveal banking credentials, card details or one-time security codes.
• Keep the listing, message headers, check image and payment instructions as evidence.
• Contact the bank or payment provider immediately if you have already acted.
• Continue your search through verified application routes rather than an urgent private message.

Browse current checked roles →Read RemoRoute's privacy and security approach →