Fake Job Offer Visa Scam: Verify a CoS or LMIA Is Real

The fake job offer visa scam sells you a UK or Canada job that does not exist, then charges an upfront “package” fee to secure it. Nigerians call it a japa scam, and report losing ₦900,000 to ₦8.1 million this way. The version generic listicles miss is the sponsorship-specific one: a fake CoS / LMIA — a fake Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) or Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). A too-good-to-be-true job with a big upfront fee is the real tell. This guide shows how it works, the one red flag that exposes it, and the free checks that confirm an offer is real from Nigeria — before you pay in ₦.

How the fake-job-offer / fake-CoS / fake-LMIA scam works on Nigerians

In short: from Nigeria, victims report losing ₦900,000 to ₦8.1 million to fake job-offer, fake-CoS and fake-LMIA agents who take an upfront “package” fee, sometimes stage biometrics at VFS Lagos, then go silent. No employer charges you for a job offer. Source: UK Register of licensed sponsors, gov.uk; canada.ca — protect yourself from immigration fraud.

The pattern is consistent across real threads. A fake travel agent or self-styled “visa agent” promises a UK or Canada work visa, collects a large upfront sum, and vanishes. This is the visa agent scam in its purest form. One applicant on Nairaland’s “Is My Visa Agent A Scam?” thread (2021) put down ₦1 million for a Canadian work visa and did biometrics at VFS Lagos — then heard nothing. Losses climb from there. One victim lost ₦2.8 million for “relocation to Europe” (Nairaland, September 2025). Another lost ₦8.1 million for a fake visa: “N2.5m only, I paid N8.1million,” onadana wrote (Nairaland, July 2023).

The staged biometrics matter. Paying VFS and giving fingerprints feels official, so people trust the agent past the point of no return. The fee also rises after you commit — one victim recalled asking “if there is more money to pay when the visa come out he said yes” (Nairaland, 2023). ICTBEYONDBORDER named the mechanism plainly: “It is fraudulent for you to know you cannot do something and after the person has paid you.”

The defining red flag: paying to GET a job offer

In short: the single defining red flag from Nigeria is being asked to pay — in ₦, cash or crypto — to receive a job offer, CoS or LMIA. Real employers pay to hire you; you never pay an agent to be given an offer. Source: gov.uk sponsorship guidance; canada.ca — employers cannot recover LMIA costs from workers.

This upfront-fee red flag is the inversion that exposes the scam. In a genuine hire, the employer spends money on you. A licensed UK employer applies for your CoS and carries the sponsor-licence cost. In Canada, the employer applies to Service Canada for an LMIA. By rule, they cannot recover that fee from you. So the moment an “agent” asks you for a fee to hand over the job offer, the direction of money is backwards.

The legitimate costs you pay go to the government, not a middleman: the UKVI visa fee plus the Immigration Health Surcharge, or the IRCC visa and biometrics fees. You pay those on the official portal. If you need to move naira into a card or account for that, use how to pay visa and passport fees from Nigeria — never a “processing fee” into an agent’s personal bank account.

How to verify a job offer and employer are real

In short: verify a UK offer for free from Nigeria — confirm the company on Companies House, then confirm the employer on the gov.uk Register of licensed sponsors. For Canada, remember an employer cannot sell you an LMIA. Source: find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk; gov.uk; canada.ca.

Agent verification is free and takes minutes. Run these checks before you send anyone money:

1. Find the company on Companies House. Search find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk and confirm the employer is a real, active company with the address and directors the offer names.
2. Check the gov.uk sponsor register. For a UK Skilled Worker role, the employer must appear on the Register of licensed sponsors. Not listed means no CoS is possible — the offer is fake.
3. Know that an LMIA cannot be bought. For Canada, the employer applies to Service Canada. A genuine employer does not charge you for the job offer, and a “guaranteed LMIA for a fee” is a scam.
4. Contact the employer directly. Call or email through the number on their official website — not the WhatsApp or Gmail the agent gave you. Fraudsters clone real firms.
5. Confirm no one is charging you for the offer. No legitimate employer charges you to receive a job offer, CoS or LMIA — if one does, walk away.

How to verify a job offer, CoS or LMIA is real

If an adviser is involved, run an OISC/RCIC check too: UK immigration advisers appear on the Immigration Advice Authority register via gov.uk, and Canada consultants on the CICC register at college-ic.ca. For the full walkthrough, see how to verify UK sponsor licence status from Nigeria and how to verify an immigration agent.

The internship/admission-visa “agent” variant

In short: the study, internship and admission variant charges ₦-millions or $800+ from Nigeria for a “visa package” that is the same free official process, or fronts a fake university “admissions agent.” Source: canada.ca study-permit and gov.uk Student visa guidance.

Not every version asks for millions. One r/Nigeria poster found a “well-known TikTok and YouTube agent” charging over $800 for a Nigerian e-visa that was “essentially the same process I was already undertaking through the official platform” (Sad-Structure4814, August 2025). The only difference was the inflated fee. Every route on our destination guides names the official portal, so you can price the real thing before an agent quotes you.

The admissions bait is subtler. A poster styled as “a registered admissions agent at a university in China” recruited Nigerian students directly (Expensive-Tap7528, March 2026). Some such offers are real; many are not. The check is the same: confirm the university and any scholarship on the institution’s official site, and confirm the study visa fee is paid to the government, not the recruiter. The emotional pull — closing-window panic and the feeling of being “sold a dream” of an easy route abroad — is what makes people skip these checks. Slow down before paying; a real offer survives a 48-hour verification.

What to do if you have already paid

In short: if you have already paid from Nigeria, report to the EFCC and the Nigeria Police, tell your bank the same day to attempt a recall, and report the profile to the platform. Recovery is possible but rare. Source: EFCC, efcc.gov.ng; Nigeria Police Force.

Act in this order:

1. Tell your bank immediately. A same-day report gives the best chance of a recall or freeze before the funds move on.
2. Report to the EFCC at efcc.gov.ng, and file a report with the Nigeria Police Force. Financial and cyber-enabled fraud is their remit.
3. Report the profile to the platform where you were contacted — LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp or TikTok — so it is taken down.
4. Preserve every piece of evidence: chats, receipts, account numbers and the offer document. You will need them for each report.

Recovery is the exception. One Nairaland poster described a fake New Zealand visa where the money came back — “They returned my money 100% and police” — but that outcome is rare, and most victims never see the naira again. That is why verification before payment, not recovery after, is the real protection. For the full anti-scam checklist, read how to spot and avoid visa scams in Nigeria.

Frequently asked questions

FAQ

Sources

• UK employer and sponsor checks: Companies House and the Register of licensed sponsors, gov.uk (checked 24 July 2026).
• UK adviser register: Immigration Advice Authority via gov.uk. Canada consultant register: college-ic.ca. Canada LMIA rules — an employer cannot recover the fee from you: canada.ca (checked 24 July 2026).
• Reporting routes: EFCC and the Nigeria Police Force (checked 24 July 2026).
• Every loss figure, quote and scam pattern in this guide is a community report, not a verified case file — dated Nairaland Travel and Crime board threads (2018–2025) and r/Nigeria threads (2025–2026), each attributed inline with its thread and date. Amounts are as posted by the victims themselves.