LinkedIn Impersonation Scams
Scammers impersonate LinkedIn with fake recruiter messages, phishing 'profile view' emails, and account-restriction alerts. The real LinkedIn will never ask you to pay a fee to apply for a job or to move a conversation to buy equipment.
Last reviewed: 1 June 2026
LinkedIn's role as a professional networking platform makes it fertile ground for both phishing and job scams. Fraudsters send emails styled as LinkedIn notifications — 'someone viewed your profile', 'your account will be restricted' — that lead to fake login pages designed to harvest credentials.
A separate and increasingly common scam involves fake recruiters who make contact through LinkedIn itself, offer a suspiciously well-paid remote job, and eventually ask the target to pay for 'training materials', equipment, or a background check before the job can start. LinkedIn does not run these schemes and does not charge jobseekers fees of any kind.
LinkedIn is the victim of this impersonation. Genuine account and job-application activity happens entirely within the platform, never via a payment request or an external login link sent by email or message.
How scammers impersonate it
- Sending phishing emails styled as LinkedIn notifications with links to fake login pages
- Creating fake recruiter profiles offering high-paying remote jobs with minimal interview process
- Asking job applicants to pay for 'training', equipment, or a background check before starting
- Sending fake 'account restricted' or 'policy violation' emails demanding you verify by clicking a link
- Registering domains that closely resemble linkedin.com for phishing pages
What the real organisation never does
- Ask you to pay any fee to apply for a job, interview, or start employment
- Ask you to purchase equipment or software through a link provided by a recruiter
- Send an account-restriction notice that requires clicking a link outside linkedin.com to resolve
- Ask for your password or payment details via email or direct message
- Guarantee a job offer without any interview process
Common red flags
- A recruiter message offering a high salary for minimal work with no real interview
- Any request to pay for training materials, equipment, or a background check
- An email about your account with a login link that does not go to linkedin.com
- Pressure to move the conversation off LinkedIn to text or a messaging app quickly
- Poor grammar or generic company details that don't match the recruiter's claimed employer
Sanitized example messages
Illustrative, sanitized examples. Personal details are replaced with placeholders such as [phone number] and [fake link].
Message: 'Congratulations! You've been selected for a $[amount]/week remote role. To begin, please purchase your starter equipment kit at linkkedin-2[.]weebly[.]com.'
Email: 'LinkedIn: Your account will be restricted in 24 hours due to a policy violation. Verify your identity here to prevent suspension: [fake link].'
How to verify
- Check job offers and recruiter profiles by researching the actual hiring company independently
- Never pay for equipment, training, or background checks as a condition of employment
- Log in to LinkedIn only by typing linkedin.com directly into your browser
- Check your account status and notifications inside the LinkedIn app, not via an email link
What to do if you're targeted
- Do not pay any fee or click suspicious links
- Report the fake profile or message to LinkedIn using the in-app 'report' function
- If you shared payment details, contact your bank immediately
Frequently asked questions
A recruiter contacted me through LinkedIn itself — doesn't that make it legitimate?
Not necessarily. Scammers create fake recruiter profiles on LinkedIn just as they do on any platform. Being contacted through LinkedIn does not verify the person's identity or the job's legitimacy — research the company independently before proceeding.
I already paid for a 'starter kit' for a job that turned out to be fake — what should I do?
Contact your bank or card provider immediately to report the payment as fraudulent, report the profile to LinkedIn, and report the scam to your national fraud reporting service.