Ghost job scams

Not every job posting is a job

Some never existed. Some closed months ago and were never taken down. Some are posted by people who want your resume, your contact information, or your willingness to pay a fee, not your labor. The frustration of applying to a ghost job is familiar to most job seekers. The risk of a ghost job scam is less well understood and more serious.

Ghost listing versus scam

A ghost listing is a real company posting a role it has no current intention to fill. It might be building a talent pipeline, hedging on an open headcount, or simply neglecting to remove a listing that has been filled. The job seeker loses time but not money or data.

A ghost job scam is something different. It is a fabricated listing designed to extract value from the person applying. Resume data for resale. Personal information for phishing. An "application fee" or "background check payment" before an offer can be extended. These patterns are documented and recurring.

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reported a 62 percent increase in employment-related fraud complaints between 2022 and 2024. The median financial loss per victim was $1,500.

How to tell the difference

Check the posting date. A listing that has been live for 60 or more days without modification is worth investigating before you apply. Research the company directly. Visit the official website and confirm the role is listed there. If the listing exists only on an aggregator and not on the company’s own career page, treat it with caution.

Look for contact information. Legitimate postings reference a specific team or HR department, even if they do not provide a direct contact. Vague postings with no company structure described are a warning sign.

Any request for payment before employment is fraud. Background checks, training fees, equipment deposits: these do not exist in legitimate hiring. Walk away.

How CoBlack approaches this

CoBlack pulls openings directly from employer ATS systems and verified career pages, not from public aggregators. Listings that cannot be traced to a live, confirmed source do not enter the pipeline. Ghost jobs are a supply-side problem. Removing them from the source is how you protect the job seeker’s time.