I'm looking for a company that lets me work from home, but I see so many listings on LinkedIn that seem off to me. They ask for money for 'competency certificates' or stuff like that. Which sites or platforms are actually reliable according to you? And how do I tell if it's a scam before I send them my CV?
What nobody mentions is that legit companies have long, boring selection processes: multiple interviews, tests, reference checks. If they hire you after two emails and a weird phone call, that's a red flag. Always verify the company directly - go to their official website, find their phone number, contact the HR department on your own instead of just responding to job postings. Verified company profiles on LinkedIn are a good starting point, but they're not a guarantee: a real company won't rush you into paying anything, and if something feels off, you've got nothing to lose by doing a deeper check before you respond.
A golden rule: no legitimate company will ask you for money before hiring you, period. If you see requests for payment for certificates, courses, or "skills verification," it's 100% a scam - run away immediately.
For trustworthy sites, search on LinkedIn directly from official company pages (not from random recruiters), or use FlexJobs, We Work Remotely, or similar platforms that filter job postings. Before sending your CV, always check: does the company actually exist? Do they have a professional website with real contact info? Is the salary realistic for the role, or does it sound too good to be true? If they ask you to communicate only via WhatsApp or Telegram, or if the conversation is full of weird typos, don't trust them. Ask the recruiter a couple of pointed questions about the project or the company - someone legit will answer with concrete details, while a scammer will copy-paste generic responses.
Sites like Indeed, Glassdoor and FlexJobs have decent filters for remote work and most of the listings get verified, so at least you won't run into the most obvious scams. What really works is checking whether the company actually exists: go to their official website (not through a link from the job posting), find their phone number and call the HR department directly, or send an email using only the official company address you find there. If nobody responds from official channels but the scammer keeps pushing you via LinkedIn, you already know it's fake.
When I started looking for remote work, I got flooded with private messages on LinkedIn from accounts with generic photos and weird names, all offering me "incredible" positions at companies that didn't even exist. What saved me was contacting the company directly through their official website, not replying to recruiters reaching out to me. If you see an interesting job posting, go to the verified company LinkedIn profile (with the blue badge), check out their other employees, read reviews on Glassdoor, and then send your CV only through there. Another tip: legit companies respond within reasonable timeframes and conduct actual interviews, they don't just email you a contract right away or ask for your bank details before they've even met you.
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