“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; where knowledge is free.”
Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali, 1912
Every forged offer letter works on the two things Tagore is asking to be free of. It works on fear, because you are afraid of losing the chance. And it works on the belief that checking is something only educated people can do. Neither is true. The knowledge you need to read one of these is free, it is on this page, and the checks below need nothing but the letter and your own phone.
Source: Ministry of External Affairs, guidelines for registration as Recruiting Agents under the Emigration Act, 1983, and the MEA emigration clearance guidelines, checked August 2026. The helpline and the grievance portal are MEA's own, and each Indian mission also publishes its local emergency number.
Nine checks on the letter itself
Print it if you can, or open it full size. Work down the page slowly. You are not looking for one damning error, you are counting how many of these are missing.
- 1. Your name, spelled exactly as your passport spells it. A real employer types it from your passport copy. A forger types it from a WhatsApp message.
- 2. Your passport number, on the letter. An offer addressed to a name and no passport number is addressed to nobody in particular.
- 3. The employer's full legal name and address, not just a logo and a trading name. You should be able to search that name and find the company existing independently of this letter.
- 4. The job title you applied for. If you applied as a welder and the letter says general worker, that is not a typing error, that is the actual job.
- 5. Salary in the local currency, as a figure. Dirhams, riyals, ringgit. A salary quoted only in rupees, or as a range, or as an approximate monthly income, is not a contractual number.
- 6. What sits on top of the salary, itemised. Accommodation, food, transport, medical, and how overtime is calculated. Each one either provided or not, in words.
- 7. Contract length, probation and notice. Two years, three years, and what happens in the first months.
- 8. Working hours and the weekly rest day. Stated, not implied.
- 9. Who pays for the ticket, the visa and the medical, both ways. The most expensive sentence in the document is often the one that is missing.
What a real letter carries, and what a forged one leaves out
| On the page | Genuine offer | Forged offer |
|---|---|---|
| Reference number and date | Both, and they match the covering email | Missing, or a date that makes no sense |
| Salary | A figure in local currency, with allowances itemised | A rupee figure, a range, or "as per company policy" |
| Sender's email | The employer's own domain | A free webmail address |
| Signature block | Name, designation, signature and stamp | A pasted logo and nothing else |
| File | A PDF you can select text in | A photograph of a printout |
| Payment asked for | Itemised in writing, and receipted | A lakh-rupee figure to a personal account |
| Verification | Invited, and the employer answers | Discouraged, or the number is the agent's |
The fifth row is worth dwelling on. A great many forgeries arrive as a photograph precisely because a photograph hides the things a PDF would reveal: the fonts that do not match, the logo at the wrong resolution, the text box sitting slightly crooked over a scanned template belonging to a real company that has nothing to do with this offer.
The three checks that actually settle it
- 10. Find the employer's phone number yourself, and call it. Not the number on the letter, not the number the agent gave you. Search for the company, find the number on their own website or on a public business listing, and ask whether the reference number on your letter exists. This single step ends most frauds, and it is the step people skip because it feels rude.
- 11. Ask which registered Recruiting Agent the job is filed under, and check the number. A registered agent holds a certificate valid five years, lodges a substantial deposit with the government, and appears on the Ministry of External Affairs list. Our guide to checking an agent's registration walks through it in three minutes.
- 12. Check what you are being asked to pay, and how. Ask for the costs in writing before you pay anything, itemised rather than bundled. Passport, attestation and medical costs are separate, paid to other people, and should be receipted individually. A single large figure covering everything, paid to a personal account, is the shape to refuse.
The visit visa version, which is the worst one
A particular offer deserves naming: come on a visit visa and we will convert it once you are here. Sometimes this is said by people who believe it. It is illegal to work on a visit visa in every Gulf state. A worker who accepts it arrives with no contract on record, no insurance, no filed employer and no standing to complain, which is precisely why the work offered on that basis is the work nobody would accept on paper. Detention and deportation are the ordinary ending, and the savings are gone before that.
If you think you have been given a fake
Stop paying, immediately. Do not send a further amount to recover what you have already sent, which is how a small loss becomes a large one. Save everything: the letter, the messages, the account details, the receipts, the phone numbers. File a complaint with the police and with the Protector of Emigrants, and if the person was working as a sub-agent, raise it with the registered agent whose authorisation they claimed. Tell the people around you, plainly. Most of these operations run on the silence of the last person they took money from.
Where Disha fits, honestly
Disha Global Workforce recruits candidates with Non-ECR passports and a minimum qualification of 10+2, for the countries we actually serve in the Gulf, Southeast Asia and parts of Europe. We do not recruit for the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom or Australia. We work under the authorisation of a licensed Recruiting Agent, and we do not hold our own Registration Certificate.
Run all twelve checks on anything you receive from us. Ask which registered agent your file sits under. Ask for the charge in writing and a receipt for every payment. If you have an offer letter from somewhere else and you simply want a second pair of eyes on it, send it. We will tell you what we see, including when it looks fine.
Have an offer letter you are unsure about?
Send us a photo of it. We will go through these twelve checks with you and tell you plainly what is missing, whoever it came from.
Frequently asked questions
What is the fastest way to check an overseas job offer letter?
Find the employer's phone number yourself, from their own website or a public business listing rather than from the letter, and ask whether the reference number on your offer exists. That one call ends most frauds. Before making it, confirm the letter carries your name as your passport spells it, your passport number, a salary figure in the local currency, and a signature with a name and designation.
Is a salary quoted in rupees a warning sign?
Yes. A genuine overseas contract states pay in the currency you will be paid in, with allowances for accommodation, food and transport itemised separately and a stated basis for overtime. A rupee figure, a range, or a phrase such as "as per company policy" is not a contractual number and cannot be enforced later.
What should I ask for before paying an agent for a Gulf job?
The costs in writing before you pay, itemised rather than bundled, and a receipt naming what each payment was for. Costs paid to other parties, such as your passport, certificate attestation and the medical examination, should be listed separately from anything the agent charges. A single large payment into a personal account is the shape to refuse, called.
The recruiter says I can come on a visit visa and convert it. Is that real?
No. Working on a visit visa is illegal in every Gulf state. You would arrive with no contract on record, no insurance and no filed employer, which is exactly why work is offered on that basis when it would not be accepted on paper. The usual ending is detention and deportation, with the money already spent and nothing to show a court.
What should I do if I have already paid for a fake offer?
Stop paying and do not send more in the hope of recovering what has gone, which is how a small loss becomes a large one. Save the letter, the messages, the bank details and every receipt, then file a complaint with the police and with the Protector of Emigrants. If the person claimed to work under a registered recruiting agent, raise it with that agent as well, and tell the people around you what happened.
This article explains the legal position as it stood on 29 August 2026 and is general information, not legal advice. Registration requirements and country rules change. Always confirm against the Ministry of External Affairs before acting, and report suspected fraud to the police.