How to spot a recruitment scam
Recruitment is one of the most impersonated industries, because an unexpected message about a job is normal and so is being asked for documents. Here is exactly what ARG will and will not do, so you have something to check a message against.
ARG will never
- Ask you to pay a fee of any kind. It is illegal, and it is the single clearest sign.
- Ask for bank details before you have accepted an assignment and had a Key Information Document.
- Ask for a passport or driving licence in reply to a first cold email.
- Ask you to buy equipment, software or training and be reimbursed later.
- Ask you to receive money and pass it on.
- Interview you only by text message, or move you to WhatsApp or Telegram to finish an application.
Will ARG ever ask me to pay for anything?
No. Never, for any reason. Charging a work-seeker a fee for finding them work is prohibited by the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003, so an agency asking for one is either committing an offence or is not an agency. That includes fees described as admin, registration, training, CRB or DBS processing, equipment, software, uniform, visa handling or a refundable deposit.
What will ARG never ask for?
ARG will never ask for your bank details to "verify" you or to set up a payment before you have accepted an assignment and been issued a Key Information Document. It will never ask for your National Insurance number, passport or driving licence by reply to a first cold email. It will never ask you to buy equipment and be reimbursed, to receive money into your account and forward it on, to move a conversation to WhatsApp or Telegram to complete an application, or to download a file to "see the full job spec".
How do I check a message is really from ARG?
Look at the sending domain, not the display name. Genuine ARG email comes from andrews-recruitment.com or web.andrews-recruitment.com. Anything else — a near-miss domain, a free webmail address, or a lookalike with a hyphen or letter changed — is not ARG, whatever the signature says. If you are unsure, do not reply: go to andrews-recruitment.com yourself and contact ARG on info@andrews-recruitment.com or +44 7852 781 836, and ask whether the message was theirs.
When does ARG legitimately need my documents?
Right-to-work documents and competence certificates are checked before you are supplied to a client, which is a legal requirement, not a formality. That happens after a real conversation about a real role, by an agreed route, and never as the first thing a stranger asks for. If the first message you receive asks for a passport scan, it is not ARG.
What are the other signs of a scam?
A role that pays far above the market for the work, which the salary guides on this site let you check in a minute. An offer made with no interview. Pressure to decide today. A recruiter who will not name the client, or names one and cannot explain the site or the shift pattern. Poor spelling in a message claiming to be from a professional firm. An interview conducted entirely by text message.
I think I have been targeted. What do I do?
If someone has impersonated ARG, tell ARG at info@andrews-recruitment.com and forward the message if you still have it — that is how it gets reported and taken down. Report the scam itself to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk or 0300 123 2040, and suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk. If you have given bank details, contact your bank immediately and say you may have been the victim of fraud. None of this costs anything and you are not in trouble for having engaged with it.