Fake Job Postings and Ghost Jobs: How to Spot and Avoid Them

As if searching for a job in today’s economy wasn’t hard enough, jobseekers are navigating an increasing number of fake job postings and ghost jobs.

With a cooling labor market and long-term unemployment at a three-year high according to US Bureau of Labor Statistics data from August 2025, you can’t afford to have your time or money wasted by insincere job posters.

Learn why fake and ghost jobs exist, how to tell when a job might not quite be real, and what you can do to protect yourself and push back on fake jobs. 

Understanding the Problem: What Are Ghost Jobs and Fake Job Postings?

Any advertised job that isn’t genuinely likely to result in a person being employed might be described as a fake job posting. But typically, fake jobs are designed to illegally defraud you, while roles listed to give a false impression of hiring are instead known as ghost jobs. 

• Fake or scam jobs are misleading job offers designed to steal your money or personal data. They might promise great pay and conditions but then ask for payment to access systems or equipment, or request your financial information or copies of your ID. 
• Ghost or phantom jobs are advertised positions that a company has no real intention of filling. The organization is usually legitimate, but the role has either already been filled, or isn’t actually available. It’s often an attempt to manipulate people’s perceptions or collect resumes. 

Business and job opportunity scams is the eighth most-reported category of scam noted by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Reports of job scams tripled between 2020-2024, with reported losses rising from $90 million to over $500 million in that time.

Ghost jobs also seem to be on the rise. Recently, multiple surveys and analyses have shown that between 20%-30% of job postings you see online may be non-existent jobs. 

• Four in ten companies admitted to posting ghost job listings in a survey from May, 2024 (Resume Builder). Of those companies, 26% had posted 1-3 fake jobs.
• A 2024 algorithmic analysis of almost 270,000 Glassdoor reviews by a City University of New York PhD student found that up to 21% of job ads may be ghost jobs.
• Internal data from hiring platform Greenhouse in 2024 found that between 18-22% of its job listings could be classified as ghost jobs.
• A 2025 analysis of lingering job posts on LinkedIn suggested that potentially 27.4% of ads were ghost jobs in the US, with 24.9% in Canada (ResumeUp.AI).

Why Do Companies Post Ghost Jobs?

For many organizations, deceptive ghost jobs listings have become a habitual practice for a variety of reasons.

Unintentional Ghost Job Listings

Legitimate listings can seem like ghost jobs purely through internal delays, oversights, or inexperienced recruiters and hiring managers. For instance, organizations might:

• Forget to remove old ads or cancel automated repostings of listings. 
• Repost the same position multiple times due to not finding a ‘perfect’ fit.
• Mishandle hiring through poor processes, like a lack of structured interviews. 
• Post jobs that don’t progress due to internal conflicts or budgetary problems. 
• Continually list ‘evergreen’ roles that are always in demand, or have high turnover. 

Acting Big Using Phantom Jobs

Often, ghost jobs are a kind of ‘productivity theater’ engaged in by organizations, designed to increase perceptions of dynamism and growth. Despite being misleading, this can have real world benefits — it sends positive signals to investors and financial markets. 

After all, an actively recruiting company appears more successful. Many HR managers and senior leaders initiate ghost jobs simply to remain visible and give the impression of being open to external talent, even if they’re not.

Ghost Jobs Designed to Trick Employees

Other stated reasons behind ghost job postings are highly unethical. In one survey, over 60% of respondents said the aim of ghost job postings was to give current employees the false idea that their workload would be eased, or to make employees feel replaceable. 

That may be part of the reason that organizations that post ghost jobs also regularly follow through by conducting interviews with candidates. 

It goes against best practice recruitment and talent management guidance, which generally promotes treating people with respect through a focus on transparent communication and inclusive practices that support equity, positive engagement, and work-life balance.

Spotted a Phantom Job? Red Flags To Watch For

The number one red flag for ghost jobs is the age of the listing. A general rule of thumb is that it takes around 4-6 weeks to recruit a new employee, from the time an ad is posted to an offer of employment being accepted. If a listing has been online for months, the company would have received plenty of applications already — and, in most cases, should have been able to fill the position.

Seemingly perpetual hiring for the same, or very similar, roles at the same organization is another red flag for ghost jobs. Even if roles are sometimes being filled, it could point to a retention issue, which could point to a culture or management issue.

How to Verify Legitimate Job Postings

When you’re interested in a role, do more research before applying and trust your gut if the role seems fishy. If the idea of wasting time on ghost jobs increases your job search anxiety, consider taking these steps to verify a job is real:

• Check the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to see if the hirer is a trustworthy organization.
• Cross-check whether the job appears on the organization’s careers page and LinkedIn page.
• Contact the organization directly via official channels to ask about the purpose of the role.
• Explore reviews from current and former employees on Glassdoor or social media.

How to Tell if a Job Posting is Fake?

You may also come across fake jobs on popular jobs boards. Employment scams tap into people’s desperation and greed by creating fake job postings that sound ideal — with attractive rates of pay, promises of flexibility or remote autonomy, and easy, low-skilled work. 

Indeed finds that scammers often post fake jobs with titles including:

• Office assistant
• Personal assistant
• Receptionist
• Personal driver
• Delivery driver
• Warehouse workers
• Machine operator

The trouble is, they’re literally too good to be true, because the goal is to steal your money or sensitive data. The biggest red flags are jobs that seem to land in your lap with no effort, and anytime a prospective employer or business partner asks for payment to access an opportunity.

Real Examples of Fake Jobs

Some example fake jobs that have affected real people, which authorities like the FTC and FBI warn job seekers to be wary of include:

Reporting Fake Job Postings

If you discover a fake job posting, the first step is to report it on the website you’re browsing. You can also alert state and national authorities, and other online forums, to increase public awareness and guide potential enforcement action.

Platforms like Indeed and LinkedIn make it easy to report a suspicious job directly from the job ad page. The platforms review ads that are flagged as possible scams, and they may be removed or edited. Indeed claims that it removes ‘tens of millions’ of postings from its platform every month due to violations of its guidelines.

The Impact on the Job Market and What's Being Done

You may be wondering, do ghost and fake jobs distort official labor market data? The rate at which people are being hired, relative to the available jobs on the market, is measured through the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). A Congressional Research Service (CRS) overview of the issue of ghost jobs published in April 2025 argued employers may be more likely to answer the JOLTS questionnaire honestly due to it being confidential. 

If you compare the current unemployment rate, job openings and hires with just before the pandemic, today's numbers don’t reflect the typical relationship. You’d usually expect job postings to be higher when unemployment is lower, because employers are competing for a smaller pool of available talent.

Frustrated job seekers may feel like ghost jobs are a type of fraud, but there’s very little legal recourse at this stage. In February 2025, FTC Chair Andrew N. Ferguson formed a Joint Labor Task Force that will explore “deceptive job advertising,” which is described as posts that lure candidates with false promises regarding important employment terms like rates of pay or benefits.

At least three U.S. states have proposed laws to deal with ghost jobs by requiring greater transparency in job postings — such as having to remove postings within two weeks of filling a role — with fines for non-compliance. But none have yet to be passed into law.

If you’re hunting for work, you need to keep an eye open for both fake and ghost jobs. Protect yourself by using high-profile job search sites with clear policies designed to keep job seekers safe. Don’t rush into applying for an opportunity until you’re confident the organization and its offer is genuine, and keep records of your communication with prospective employers.