How to verify an employer or recruiter
Updated 2026-10-03
Verifying takes a few minutes and is the best protection you have. The aim is to confirm two separate things: the company exists, and the person writing to you really works for it.
1. Check the company exists
- Search the official company register in the country where it says it operates. In the UK that is Companies House. In Kenya, company and business name searches are handled by the Business Registration Service. Other countries have similar public registers.
- Check that the registered name, address and status (active, not dissolved) match what you were told.
- Look at how long the company has existed. A company set up a few weeks ago that is hiring dozens of people is worth a second look, although new companies can be genuine.
2. Check the website and the job
- Open the company’s website by typing the address yourself, not by clicking a link in a message.
- Find the vacancy on its careers page. If it is not there, ask why.
- Be careful with sites that look new, have no contact details, copy text from other firms, or use a name very close to a known brand.
3. Check the person
- Look the recruiter up on a professional network and see whether their profile history looks real and connects to the company.
- Email the company’s main address or call its main number, found on its own site, and ask them to confirm the person and the role.
- Be cautious if the person refuses a video call, will only use a chat app, or becomes impatient when you check.
If the recruiter is an agency
Agencies can be perfectly legitimate, but you should check that they are licensed or registered where that is required. Agencies that place people in jobs abroad are often regulated: in Kenya, private employment agencies are licensed by the National Employment Authority, and other countries run similar schemes. A legitimate agency will tell you its licence number and let you verify it with the regulator, and it should not charge you in ways the law does not allow.
No single check is proof. Use several, and trust the pattern. If the company checks out but the person does not, tell the company; it may be a scam using its name.