I got a job offer by SMS from a government department. Is it real?
No. Government departments advertise vacancies through official channels and never offer jobs by SMS or WhatsApp, never charge a fee and never recruit through a private cellphone number. These messages are scams aimed at people desperate for work.
The messages use real department names and logos and promise learnerships, traffic officer posts, nursing training or police recruitment. The fee is for "medical screening", "uniform" or "registration". Sometimes they also harvest ID copies for identity theft.
How to check
- Look for the vacancy on the department's official website or in the official government vacancy circular.
- Phone the department's switchboard from its website, not the number in the message.
- No fee, ever. Government recruitment is free.
- Do not send your ID copy or certificates to a cellphone number.
- Report the number and warn others in your community.
Frequently asked questions
- They said I was selected from a database. Is that possible?
- No. Departments do not select people they have never heard from and message them on WhatsApp.
Want to know if there are warning signs about the person you're chatting to? Veritaza checks the photos, the messages, the number, the email address, the name and the ID document, for R99.
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