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Tick anything that matches the offer you are looking at.
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This checker highlights common warning signs. It cannot confirm that an offer is genuine or fraudulent, and a low score is not a guarantee of safety. If something feels wrong, stop, verify independently, and do not send money or personal documents.
The short answer
No checker can prove an offer is legitimate, but some warning signs are reliable: paying to get started, being paid by gift card or crypto, guaranteed income, and earnings that depend on recruiting others. Any one is reason to stop. Tick what applies to your offer to see how many warning signs it shows and why each matters.
Most people who lose money to an online income scam were not careless. The offers are designed to look plausible, arrive at a moment when money is tight, and rush you before you can think. A checklist slows that down. It puts the warning signs in front of you one by one, so that pressure and hope have less room to do the thinking.
How to use this checker
- Have the offer in front of you: the message, the advert, the website, the person's claims.
- Tick every statement that matches what you have seen. Be honest, and tick "cannot tell" items as warnings if you have not been able to check them.
- Read the result and, more importantly, the reasons underneath. Each warning sign includes why it matters.
The tool runs in your browser and stores nothing. You can tick and untick as you gather more information.
How the scoring works
Every warning sign has a weight from one to three, shown by where it appears in the result.
Serious (weight 3). Paying to get started, being paid or asked to pay by gift cards, cryptocurrency or wire, or to forward money for others, guaranteed income, earnings driven by recruitment, and requests for passwords, codes or remote access. Any single one of these puts the offer in the highest band, because each is strongly associated with fraud.
Moderate (weight 2). Unsolicited contact, pressure, high pay for easy work, an unverifiable company, an instant text-only "interview", requests for ID or bank details too early, and proof that is only screenshots.
Minor (weight 1). Vague descriptions and sloppy messages. Weak on their own, but they often accompany the others.
The bands are simple: nothing ticked, a few signs, several signs, or serious. Six or more points also counts as serious. The scoring is deliberately transparent so you can disagree with it, and every rule is covered by automated tests.
Why "pay to get started" is the biggest signal
Real clients and employers pay you. When an "opportunity" asks you to pay for training, a starter kit, registration, equipment or "access", the money is flowing the wrong way. The same is true when you are asked to buy something from the person offering you work, or to pay a fee to release earnings you have supposedly made.
There is a genuine nuance. Some legitimate marketplaces charge a percentage of what you earn, or sell optional credits and memberships. The difference is that you are dealing openly with a known platform, and its fees are published on its own official pages. Check them there, not in a message from someone else. Our guide to freelance platforms explains how the real ones work.
Checking an offer independently
Ticking boxes tells you what is wrong. These steps help you find out what is true.
Find the company yourself. Search for its name together with words like "reviews" or "scam", but do not rely on links in the message. Compare the web address in the message with the company's actual site.
Contact them through channels you found independently, not the ones you were given. If a well-known company supposedly hired you, find its real careers page and check the role exists.
Ask for terms in writing, including who pays you, how much, and when.
Slow down. A real opportunity will still be there tomorrow. A deadline designed to stop you researching is itself a warning.
Never move money for a stranger. Cashing a cheque and sending some on, buying gift cards, or forwarding "payments" are classic ways to become the victim of a fraud.
Where scams tend to hide
They cluster around the things people search for when they want to earn quickly: data entry, task and "review" jobs, product-boosting schemes, trading or crypto "signals", "done for you" businesses, and courses that promise a guaranteed income. Our article on make-money-online scams goes through these patterns in detail, and our guide to passive income myths explains why promises of effortless income should make you more careful, not less. For realistic alternatives, see realistic ways to make money online.
If you think you have been targeted
Stop contact and do not send anything further. If you paid, contact your bank or payment provider straight away, because speed matters. Change passwords and secure any accounts you may have shared. Keep evidence, such as messages, receipts and web addresses, and report the scam to your country's fraud or consumer protection agency. If you shared identity documents, consider the identity protection options available where you live.
Common mistakes
Trusting the reviews the seller supplies. Look for independent ones.
Assuming a professional website means a real business. Sites are cheap to copy.
Paying "just a small fee". The size of the fee is not the point; the direction of the payment is.
Feeling embarrassed and staying quiet. Scammers count on it. Reporting helps you and others.
Assumptions and limits
This checker is a set of common warning signs, not a verdict. It does not look up companies, verify websites or know about scams that appeared after it was written. A clean result does not prove an offer is genuine, and a high result cannot tell you who is behind it. Use it as a prompt to slow down and verify, not as a substitute for judgement or professional advice.
Frequently asked questions
How can I tell if an online job offer is a scam?
Look for the pattern rather than a single sign. The strongest warnings are being asked to pay before you can work, being asked to move money for someone else, guaranteed earnings, income that depends on recruiting, and requests for passwords or codes. Weaker signs include unsolicited messages, pressure to decide quickly, very high pay for simple tasks and details you cannot verify.
Do legitimate platforms ever charge fees?
Yes, and this is where people get confused. Some genuine marketplaces take a share of your earnings or charge for optional tools, such as credits to bid on jobs. The difference is that you are paying a known platform for a service, in the open, not paying a stranger for supposed access to work. Check any platform's fees on its own official site.
Does a low score mean an offer is safe?
No. The checker only reflects what you tick. A careful scammer may avoid the obvious signs, so a low score is not a guarantee. Verify the company independently, keep payments and personal documents out of the picture until you are certain, and trust your instincts if something feels wrong.
What should I do if I have already paid or shared my details?
Act quickly. Contact your bank or payment provider, change passwords on any accounts that may be exposed, keep copies of messages and receipts, and report the scam to your country's fraud or consumer protection agency. Do not send more money to recover what you lost, since follow-up requests are a common second scam.
How we keep this calculator accurate
The formulas on this page are standard arithmetic, written out in full above so you can check them. Each one is covered by automated tests that compare the calculator against independently worked examples and round-trip checks, and the worked example is generated by the same code as the calculator. We use no third-party data, exchange rates or fee tables, because those go stale; fees and rates are always numbers you enter. If you spot a mistake or an assumption that does not fit your situation, please tell us. Our earnings disclaimer and editorial approach explain how the site works.
Written by
The editorial team behind How To Make Money Online, responsible for researching, writing, and fact-checking every guide on this site against current platform terms and fees.