Have you found the most wonderful job opportunity online? Congrats! But wait... does it sound almost too good to be true?

Unfortunately job scams are more common than you'd think. But if you know what to look out for you can protect yourself. Watch out for these phrases and be very cautious if they crop up in your application process: 

1.    “Please send us your Banking Details”

You should never under any circumstances give your bank details or personal information to anyone claiming to need it to submit your application form.

2.    “Dream job. Golden opportunity to work from home and earn +R35k a month”

If a job ad promises you overnight wealth, it’s most likely a scam. There are no shortcuts to financial success.

WATCH: 5 tips to avoid job scams

3.    “Forex trading from home. Make a profit in just five minutes”

In fact, any form of remuneration that is a lot more than you can expect as someone with your qualifications, experience and the tasks of the position on offer, is simply a trick to attract you and keep you interested.

  4.    “Buy this software”

As a job seeker, no legal job ad will ask you to pay a fee for anything – whether it’s for uniforms, submitting your details or stamp duty. Even if they promise they’ll give it back.

5.    “Earn a passive income. High earnings with no effort”

Getting the job right away is highly unlikely. Even if you are head hunted by the company, they’ll still request an interview and put you through a screening process to make sure you’re the perfect person for their company and its culture. 

6.    They use a legit sounding name

Before applying, research the company: Google their name, contact details, people that previously worked there, and if it’s a well-known company compare the email address to the ones used on the official company website. Find out who’s the Founder and visit the Social Network profile of both the company and therecruiter. If it’s empty, inactive, or the same 3-5 posts are repeated all the time, let this be your first warning.

WATCH: How to identify job scams

Careers24 is committed to ensuring that all job ads on our site are for legitimate job opportunities. We have a zero tolerance policy to scam jobs. As part of our policy, Careers24 does not charge candidates for job applications or job offers. It is against South African regulation for recruiters to charge for job offers.

What should you do if you think you've spotted a scam on Careers24?

1. Do NOT respond to the ad

2. Notify us immediately by contacting us at 
reportads@careers24.com