How to spot a recruitment scam

Fake job offers are common in Europe, and people lose real money to them every week. Most scams follow the same few patterns. Once you know them, they are easy to see.

The one rule that stops most scams

In Lithuania, a recruitment agency is not allowed to charge you.

Under the Lithuanian Law on Employment, agencies that help people find work may only charge the employer. The service to the jobseeker must always be free. That applies to temporary employment agencies too.

So if someone asks you to pay — for an application, a "registration fee", a "processing fee", a training course you must buy to get the job, a medical, a translation, or to "reserve your place" — stop. A real agency working in Lithuania does not do this.

Seven warning signs

1. They ask for money first. For anything. See above.

2. They promise a visa or work permit "guaranteed". Nobody can guarantee a permit. Only the state decides. A person who promises one is either lying or does not know the rules.

3. The salary is far too high. A factory or warehouse job in Lithuania paying three times the normal rate is not real. Compare it with similar jobs on official job sites.

4. Everything happens on WhatsApp or Telegram. Real companies have a website, an office address and a company email. A "recruiter" who will only talk on a messenger app, with a foreign number and no company name, is a warning.

5. They want your original passport. A real employer may need to see it. Nobody needs to keep it. Never send your passport by post, and never hand it over to be "held".

6. There is pressure to decide now. "Only two places left, pay today" is a sales trick, not a job offer.

7. There is no written contract. In Lithuania your employment contract must be in writing, and you should see the salary, hours and place of work before you start.

How to check an agency in a few minutes

Look for the company in the official register. Every Lithuanian company has a registration number. Ask for it, then check it in the Register of Legal Entities at Registrų centras.

For temporary work, check the official list. A company that employs you and sends you to work at another company's site must be on the list of temporary employment agencies kept by the State Labour Inspectorate (VDI).

Check the website and email. Does the email come from the company's own website address, or from a free email account? Does the website show a real office address you can find on a map?

Search the name. Search the company or person's name together with the word "scam" or "sukčiai". Other people's warnings are often the fastest check.

If someone has already taken your money

• Stop paying. Scammers often ask for "one more fee". Do not pay it.
• Keep everything: messages, phone numbers, receipts, bank transfer details.
• Report it to the police. In Lithuania you can report online through the e-police service, or at any police station. In an emergency, call 112.
• Report it to the State Labour Inspectorate if the scam used the name of a staffing agency.
• Tell your bank as soon as possible. Sometimes a payment can be stopped.

A note about us

ManBe Group recruits for real employers in Lithuania. All our vacancies need an existing right to work in Lithuania, and we never ask a candidate to pay. If anyone contacts you in our name and asks for money, they are not us. Read what we will ask you for, and contact us through the form on our website if you are unsure.