An offer is not proof. Check the job.

When your job search has a clock attached, certainty is an attractive product. “Guaranteed placement” and “we’ll handle your status” deserve scrutiny precisely because they sound like the answer you need.

Use this checklist before you share sensitive documents, sign a contract, or pay anyone. It helps identify questions and warning signs; it does not certify a company as safe or decide whether employment meets immigration requirements.

First, pause for these warning signs

The FTC warns about supposed employers demanding money to secure a job, unexpected requests for financial information, and checks that require you to send money onward. A message appearing to come from a college or professor can also be impersonation. Verify it through a contact method you find independently. Source: FTC guidance for college job seekers.

If someone asks you to invent experience, describe work you did not do, or sign dates you know are false, stop. Do not make your records match a sales pitch. If your immigration record may already be affected, take the real documents and timeline to your DSO and a qualified immigration lawyer.

1. Verify the person independently

Find the employer’s official website yourself. Use its published recruiting contact or switchboard to ask whether the person and requisition are real. A link supplied by the recruiter is a lead, not independent verification.

Check the complete email domain, including spelling. A convincing display name or profile photo proves little. A real employee’s identity can be copied. Ask the company to confirm that the sender is authorized to recruit for the position.

Keep the answer in your notes: who confirmed it, through which channel, and when. If you cannot establish that connection, hold off on sending identity documents or banking information.

2. Verify the vacancy and the actual work

Find the original job posting or obtain confirmation of the opening from the employer. Ask for the job title, legal employer, manager, work location, duties, hours, compensation, and intended start date.

For a staffing arrangement, separate the staffing firm, the client, the supervisor, and the entity responsible for paying you. A vague promise to find a client later is different from a defined job. Ask what is guaranteed in the written agreement and what is conditional.

An offer letter is evidence of what someone offered. It is not independent proof that the work exists, that you have started doing it, or that the arrangement meets OPT or STEM OPT requirements. Bring the actual duties and arrangement to your DSO; do not ask only whether the company name looks familiar.

3. Read the money and contract terms

The FTC distinguishes legitimate placement activity from scams seeking applicant fees and warns against paying for the promise of a job. Review its job-scams guide before transferring money.

Ask for the full written terms, including refunds, training charges, repayment clauses, exclusivity, and any deductions. Keep a copy before signing. If a term could leave you owing a large amount or restrict your ability to take another job, get an independent contract review. This guide cannot determine whether a clause is enforceable.

A separately purchased résumé review is not the same transaction as paying someone who promises to hire you. Evaluate what is actually being sold, who is being paid, and what happens if the promised outcome never occurs. Do not let an urgent deadline prevent you from reading the agreement.

4. Check the authorization claim separately

“We are E-Verified” does not answer every question about a job or its legitimacy. For STEM OPT, the training plan must describe a real learning opportunity, supervision, and employer commitments. DHS’s Form I-983 overview explains what the plan must establish.

Ask who will supervise you and who is authorized to complete the employer’s parts of the plan. For future sponsorship claims, use our employer research workflow. A past filing record cannot verify the recruiter in your inbox or promise the outcome of your case.

Do not buy an offer letter as a substitute for qualifying work. If someone describes an arrangement primarily as a way to “stop the clock,” ask your DSO to review the underlying work before you rely on it.

A short verification script

Send it through a contact you independently verified. If you receive pressure instead of answers, that is a reason to pause—not a reason to move faster.

If you already sent money or documents

Contact the payment provider promptly and explain the suspected fraud; ask about available recovery steps. Follow the FTC’s what to do if you were scammed guidance for the payment method involved. Save messages, URLs, receipts, and contracts. Recovery is not guaranteed.

If identity information was exposed, use IdentityTheft.gov for the appropriate recovery steps. Report suspected fraud through ReportFraud.ftc.gov and tell your campus career office if the offer circulated there. If false information may have reached your immigration record, seek individual advice; do not delete or fabricate records to conceal it.

A decision you can document

No checklist can guarantee safety. Unresolved questions belong in the downloadable worksheet, not under an optimistic checkmark. The on-page boxes do not save after you leave.