Australians lost $18.5 million to job scams in 2025 making candidates more suspicious and legitimate SME job ads harder to trust.
What’s happening: New research from global job platform Indeed has found that one in two Australian workers received a suspicious job ad in the past year, with 59% of those falling victim to the scam.
Why this matters: For small businesses posting genuine roles, the growing suspicion among candidates is a real hiring obstacle. When legitimate job ads look similar to fraudulent ones, trust becomes a competitive disadvantage for honest operators.
Australia has a job scam problem, and it is larger than most people realise. Research published by Indeed found that one in two Australian workers received a suspicious job ad in the past year. Of those, 59% fell victim, representing an estimated 3.5 million Australians caught out by fraudulent job offers in a single year.
The financial damage is documented. Scamwatch reports that Australians lost around $18.5 million to job and employment scams in 2025, with nearly 5,500 scams formally reported. But the losses extend well beyond money. Nearly half of victims, 49%, reported losing significant time through lengthy back-and-forth conversations with scammers. Twenty-two per cent had personal information stolen, including identification and banking details. One in ten lost money directly, typically through upfront fees disguised as equipment costs or fake training expenses.
The sophistication of the scams is increasing. Eighty-three per cent of Australians surveyed believe job scams are becoming more elaborate, with fraudulent ads using stolen platform logos, professional language, and urgent language designed to pressure candidates into acting quickly.
Lauren Anderson, Workplace Expert at Indeed, described how the scams operate. “They’re designed to look professional, urgent, and convincing and can trick even the most discerning of job seekers,” she said.
Younger Australians are bearing the heaviest burden. Seventy per cent of Gen Z workers and 64% of millennials report having fallen victim to a fake job offer, significantly higher than older generations. Men are twice as likely as women to lose money to a job scam, at 16% compared to 7%.
The timing matters. With 40% of Australian workers currently considering a job change, the pool of people actively searching and therefore actively vulnerable is large. Scammers are not operating randomly. They are targeting the platforms and the moments when job seekers are most engaged and most likely to act quickly.
Seven in ten Australians, 69%, say their experiences with scams have made them more cautious when applying for jobs. Nearly three-quarters, 72%, worry that they or someone they know could fall for a fake offer.
How scams are affecting legitimate hiring
This is where the problem becomes directly relevant to small business owners posting genuine roles. When candidates have been burned by fake job ads, or know someone who has, their response to any unfamiliar job posting changes. They are slower to engage, more likely to question the legitimacy of the employer, and more cautious about providing personal details during the application process.
For a large employer with an established brand, that caution is easier to overcome. For a small business that candidates may not recognise by name, a job ad can look indistinguishable from a scam even when it is entirely legitimate. The result is that honest SME operators are competing in a market where trust has been systematically eroded by fraudsters using the same platforms.
The platforms themselves are part of the response. More than half of workers who received a suspicious job ad, 52%, reported it, with 42% going directly to the job platform and 19% alerting Scamwatch or police. Anderson noted that reporting is one of the most effective tools available. “When job seekers report suspicious ads, it helps platforms act quickly to remove scams and protect others,” she said.
For job seekers, Anderson outlined the most common warning signs: job offers that ask for upfront payments for equipment, training or onboarding; promises of high pay for little effort or experience; requests for personal or financial details early in the process; and pressure to act quickly or move conversations off platform. “If a job sounds too good to be true, it usually is,” she said.
Perfect. This is credible, independent and directly useful. Adding it as a practical resource box at the end of the story gives readers something to act on immediately. Here is how it integrates cleanly:
Scamwatch: how to spot a job scam and protect yourself
A recruiter contacts you unexpectedly through text message or encrypted platforms like WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram. You are told you can earn a high income working from home with little effort. The hiring process is unusually quick with no interview or discussion about your qualifications, experience or references. You are asked to top up an account with your own money or cryptocurrency to complete tasks. The job involves transferring money, making purchases or receiving packages on behalf of someone else. You are required to pay a recruitment fee or purchase training materials before starting work.
Steps to protect yourself
Do not assume a job ad is legitimate just because it appears on a trusted platform. Scammers post fake ads on reputable sites too. If you come across a scam, report it in the app where you found it and to Scamwatch. Never send money or share personal information, credit card details, online banking or cryptocurrency account details with anyone you have only met online, by email or over the phone. Be aware that scammers may make a small initial payment to build trust before asking you to send your own money. You will not get it back. Verify who you are dealing with by sourcing contact details for recruitment agencies independently rather than using details provided in the ad.
Additional safeguards
Do not be pressured to make a fast decision. A legitimate offer will not require urgency. Do not accept payment or rewards to recruit others. Be cautious about including your physical address or date of birth in your resume. Never send passport or identity documents to an employer or recruiter unless you are certain they are genuine.
For small business owners posting genuine roles, the practical response is to make legitimacy visible. That means ensuring job ads link to a verified business profile on the platform, include a named contact and a genuine business email address, avoid language that mirrors common scam patterns such as urgency and unusually high pay promises, and keep early-stage communication on the platform rather than moving to private messaging or personal email quickly.
Source: Scamwatch, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
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