Fake Internship Fee Scams via Email
How fraudulent internship offers delivered by email require students and recent graduates to pay placement fees, insurance bonds, or administrative charges for non-existent positions.
Part of: Fake Internship Fee Scams
Last reviewed: 8 June 2026
Internship fraud targets a uniquely vulnerable population: students and recent graduates with limited professional experience who are eager to build their CVs and willing to accept below-market compensation for career development. This makes them receptive to internship offers that carry small fees — they may rationalise the cost as an investment in their career prospects.
Emails offering prestigious internships at recognisable organisations are a common format. The organisation named may be a real company whose brand is being used without permission, a plausible-sounding NGO or consultancy, or an entirely fabricated entity. The goal is to collect a placement fee, application processing charge, or insurance bond before the victim discovers the internship does not exist.
Beyond financial harm, interns who provide personal data during fake onboarding face identity theft risks.
How this scam works on email
An email arrives inviting the recipient to apply for or accept an internship — sometimes with no prior application, suggesting the sender found the CV on a university jobs board or LinkedIn. The organisation is described credibly, the role is engaging, and the duration is a plausible length for an internship.
After an email exchange that mimics an interview, an offer letter is sent. Onboarding requires payment of a placement fee, background check charge, or professional liability insurance deposit — typically a few hundred dollars. Payment is requested through a bank transfer, payment app, or gift cards.
After payment, the internship either does not commence or the victim is told the position has been withdrawn, with no refund. A second common outcome is an extended onboarding process with escalating fees before the scam collapses.
Common red flags
- Unsolicited internship offer with no prior application, especially from a well-known organisation
- Offer letter requests a placement fee, insurance bond, or administrative charge to confirm the position
- Interview conducted entirely by email without a video call with a verifiable company representative
- Company email domain does not match the official domain of the organisation named
- Offer letter contains errors inconsistent with a professional organisation's communications
- Payment must be made within a short window to hold the internship spot
How to protect yourself
- Contact the real organisation named in the offer using contact details from their official website to verify the internship
- Legitimate internship placements — including paid ones — do not require the intern to pay administrative or placement fees
- Check the email sender domain carefully against the company's official domain
- Report the email to your university's careers service so they can warn other students
- Never pay any fee to confirm an internship offer
How to report it
- Report to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov or your national student fraud authority
- Notify your university's careers service and student union so the scam can be circulated to other students
- Report to the company whose identity was impersonated so they can issue warnings
Frequently asked questions
Are placement fees ever legitimate for internships?
In rare cases, third-party internship placement agencies charge fees to students for competitive programme access, but this is uncommon and should be verified through the agency's public reputation and registration before any payment.