Fake recruiters and phishing job posts are everywhere. Here is how LayoffLog turns reports from the community into a shield you can use before you click apply.
Job scams used to mean a sketchy email from a stranger. In 2026 they look like polished LinkedIn messages, branded landing pages, and recruiter calls that quote real salary bands. The only reliable defense is collective memory: if one job seeker spots a scam, every other job seeker should hear about it within minutes. That is what the LayoffLog community warning system is for.
How a warning gets created
When you log an activity, you can mark the company or the specific job listing as suspicious and explain why. Common patterns include upfront fees, requests for ID before any interview, payroll asks routed through personal accounts, and "training kit" payments. Each report becomes a structured signal tied to a normalized company name and, when available, the job post URL.
Consensus, not vigilantism
One report is a data point. Three independent reports about the same company, from accounts with their own established timelines, is a pattern. LayoffLog aggregates reports into a consensus indicator so you see the difference between "one bad day" and "this is a known scam operation." That keeps the system useful and fair.
How to read the badge
- Green: no warnings on this company or listing yet.
- Amber: a small number of reports, often early signal worth reading carefully.
- Red: strong community consensus, with multiple independent reports.
Look it up before you apply
The community warnings lookup tool lets you paste a company name or a job URL and instantly see whether anyone in the community has flagged it. Use it before you reply to a recruiter, before you upload your resume on a new site, and definitely before you send anything that looks like ID or banking information.
Why this matters for everyone
Reporting takes about ten seconds and protects the next person in the queue. If every LayoffLog user reported just the obvious red flags they already noticed, the platform would route thousands of job seekers away from scams every month. That is the quiet superpower of a community-owned warning system.
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