How to spot a job scam in Spain
Jobs · · SpainJobs
The patterns that come up again and again, why foreigners get targeted more, and the one rule that catches almost all of it.
Job scams follow a small number of patterns, and once you have seen them they are hard to unsee. Newcomers get targeted more than most: less familiarity with what a normal Spanish hiring process looks like, more urgency, and often a visa situation that a bad actor can lean on.
THE ONE RULE
A legitimate employer in Spain never asks a candidate for money. Not for the application, not for training, not for a uniform, not for equipment, not for "processing your paperwork", not for a visa fee paid to them rather than to a consulate, and not for a background check.
If money is going from you to them, it is not a job. That single rule catches the large majority of what circulates.
THE PATTERNS
The advance-fee job. You are hired quickly, then asked to pay for training materials, a certificate, or a work kit. Sometimes framed as refundable from your first pay packet.
The overpayment cheque. You are sent money to buy equipment from a specified supplier, asked to forward part of it, and the original payment later reverses. You are left owing the bank the whole amount. This one is common in fake remote assistant roles.
The interview that is only ever a chat app. No video, no call, no company email address — just Telegram or WhatsApp, and unusual urgency. Real companies do interview remotely, but they do it from a company domain and they will get on a video call.
The salary that makes no sense. €4,000 a month for entry-level data entry with no experience required. Compare against the sector convenio, which is public. If the gap is enormous, that is the signal.
The document harvest. Before any offer, they need your passport, your NIE, your bank details and a selfie holding your ID. A real employer needs those things after an offer, for payroll and social security — not to decide whether to interview you.
The fake agency using a real company's name. Check the company independently: find their real website, their real number, and call it. Do not use the contact details in the advert.
The vanishing accommodation package. Common in seasonal coastal work: a job with accommodation, a deposit required now to hold your room. The job does not exist.
THE SPECIFIC ONE AIMED AT FOREIGNERS
Anyone offering to "arrange" a work visa for a fee, outside the official process. Work authorisation in Spain is applied for through the employer and the immigration authorities. There is no agent who can shortcut it, and paying someone who says otherwise loses you the money and can leave you with a fraudulent application in your name.
WHAT NORMAL LOOKS LIKE
A Spanish hiring process usually involves an application, one or two interviews, and a written contract before you start. The contract states the contract type, the applicable convenio, your hours and your gross annual salary. You get a copy. You are registered with social security before your first day.
Nothing is paid by you at any point.
IF SOMETHING LOOKS WRONG
Stop the conversation. Do not send documents. If you have already paid, report it to the Policía Nacional — there is an online reporting route for fraud — and tell your bank immediately.
And if you found the listing on this site, use the report link on the job page. Scam listings come down as soon as we see them, and being told is how we see them.