Safety · Updated November 3, 2026
Stay safe from recruiting scams
Real recruiters never ask for money. How to tell the difference.
By Nina Castellanos, Head of Trust and Safety · Edited by Helena Voss · Published
Signs of a scam
- A request to pay a fee, buy software or send gift cards.
- A sender on a free e-mail address pretending to be a company.
- Pressure to answer within hours.
- A job with no rate, or a rate far above the market.
What to do
Do not reply, open links or send documents. Paste the sender into our verify page and report it. If you already sent money or ID, contact your bank and local fraud service.
How to check us
Every person who can write to you on behalf of Deftridge is listed on the team page with an @deftridge.com address. You can paste any sender address into Verify a sender; if it is not on the list, it is not us.
Our recruiters never ask for a fee, a deposit, equipment purchases, gift cards or bank logins, and never move the conversation to a messaging app before you have agreed to it in writing.
Keep reading
Check your contract before you take side workFour clauses decide whether side work is allowed, and how to read them.How to price a taskStart from the market wage, add the contractor premium and decide your floor.How to read a task briefEight lines to check in a task brief before you say yes: outcome, load, tools, scope and acceptance.Side income and tax: the basicsWhat contractors in the US and UK usually have to think about. General information, not tax advice.