Fake Australian job offer email? Nigerian job seekers, test it the way the High Commission does

Tips · 2026-10-17 · 10 min read

A Nigerian man studies his laptop while holding a phone at a warmly lit table in his Lagos apartment.

A fake Australian job offer email usually arrives looking official: a coat of arms, a "High Commission" signature and a fee you must pay quickly. The quickest test comes from the Australian High Commission in Nigeria itself: no Australian diplomat or Australian Border Force officer will ever contact you offering a job or a visa. If the message does that, it is fake, however real the letterhead looks.

This guide walks Nigerian job seekers through the checks the High Commission and the Department of Home Affairs publish, so you can test an email in a few minutes, keep your money and documents safe, and report the sender.

Why scammers pretend to be the embassy

Many people in Lagos, Abuja or Port Harcourt still say "the embassy" when they mean the Australian High Commission. Scammers use that trust. A message that seems to come from a government office feels safer than one from an unknown agent, so they borrow the name.

The trick only works if you believe the High Commission handles jobs and visas. It does neither. The High Commission in Nigeria does not process visa or citizenship applications: the Department of Home Affairs manages them, and they are lodged online through ImmiAccount. Even Australia's Honorary Consul in Lagos, at Falomo in Ikoyi, does not process visa requests.

So an email saying "the High Commission has approved your employment" describes something that office does not do. Read every claim in the message against that fact.

The High Commission's own tests, side by side

The High Commission's scam information page and the Home Affairs visa scams page give clear tests. Here they are against the lines scammers usually write.

What the email says	What the official pages say	Verdict
"An officer of the Australian High Commission has selected you for a job"	No Australian diplomat or Border Force Special Agent contacts people offering jobs or visas	Fake
Sent from an address ending in .com, .net or a free mail service	Real border-related addresses end in @dfat.gov.au or @border.gov.au; anything else is a scam	Fake
"Your Australian work permit is ready; pay to release it"	Australia does not issue work permits, visa labels or Labour Market Impact Assessments	Fake
"Pay the processing fee to our agent and your visa will be approved"	No one can promise you an Australian visa; anyone promising a visa or permanent residency is misleading you	Fake
"Your visa grant is attached; do not check it anywhere"	ImmiAccount is the only official site for applying, and a grant not found in VEVO is probably fake	Check in VEVO

One "Fake" answer is enough. You do not need all five before you walk away.

Read the sender's address, not the logo

Anyone can copy a coat of arms or a signature block into an email. The sender's full address is much harder to fake convincingly, so open it and read it to the end, not just the display name.

For Australia, the High Commission's rule is simple: a legitimate border-related address ends with @dfat.gov.au or @border.gov.au, and Home Affairs says any email claiming to come from the department without a .gov.au ending is a scam. Watch for lookalikes such as "gov-au", "govau" or ".gov.au" placed in the middle of a longer domain.

For a New Zealand offer, Immigration New Zealand says its official email addresses end with immigration.govt.nz or mbie.govt.nz. The INZ scams page also notes that INZ never asks for visa fees to be paid into a bank account.

A correct domain is a minimum, not proof. Even a genuine government address will not offer you a job, because government officers do not recruit for private employers.

Cruise ship jobs and scholarship "agents"

The High Commission specifically warns West Africans about three tricks: false offers of jobs and visas to Australia, fake Australia Awards scholarship agents, and fraudulent job offers with Australian cruise ship companies. All three follow the same pattern: an exciting offer, an official-sounding contact and a payment before anything real happens.

A scholarship "agent" who asks for a processing fee, or a cruise company that wants you to pay for a visa through its own representative, should get the same treatment as a fake High Commission email. Stop, check the official page, and do not send money.

How a real Australian job offer actually works

Knowing the genuine process makes the fake one easy to spot. On the employer-sponsored route, an Australian business nominates you for a role, and the visa ties you to that employer: a Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa holder may work only in the nominated occupation and only for the nominating business, apart from some associated entities. Our guide to the Skills in Demand (482) visa explains the steps.

Notice who is missing from that process: the High Commission. A real offer comes from an employer you can research, and the visa application goes through ImmiAccount. Nobody in Abuja "releases" a job to you after payment.

New Zealand works the same way in principle: the employer has the accreditation, not a government officer. See our explainer on the New Zealand AEWV for how that route works.

Checking a visa letter someone sends you

Some scammers go further and send a "visa grant" PDF. Never treat a document from a stranger as your visa. Home Affairs says a grant that cannot be found in VEVO, its online visa entitlement check, is probably fake. Check it yourself with your passport details on the official site, not through a link in the email.

For New Zealand, a visa can be confirmed with INZ's Visa Verification service. If a "visa" cannot be found there either, treat the whole offer as fake.

The EFCC adds a further warning: visa scammers claim connections at embassies, keep demanding fresh fees and may issue fake visas that lead to arrest at the airport. A fake visa is not just lost money; it can put you in front of immigration officers with a forged document.

What to do with a suspicious email, step by step

Stop before you reply or pay. The EFCC says no credible employer demands pre-employment payments, and advises ignoring any offer once a request for money is made.
Read the full sender address. For Australia it should end in @dfat.gov.au or @border.gov.au; for New Zealand, immigration.govt.nz or mbie.govt.nz.
Look for the impossible claims. A job offered by a diplomat, a "work permit" or a promised visa means the message is fake.
Keep your documents back. Scamwatch advises never sending your passport or identity documents to an employer or recruiter unless you are sure they are genuine.
Check any visa yourself. Use VEVO for Australia or Visa Verification for New Zealand, typed into your browser, not clicked from the email.
Check the people involved. Anyone giving Australian visa help must be a registered migration agent with a MARN listed with OMARA, a legal practitioner or an exempt person. A Nigerian recruiter should hold a Recruiter's Licence: our guide shows how to check if a recruitment agency is licensed.
Report it. Keep the email, any receipts and phone numbers, then report as shown below.

Where to report a fake job offer email

The High Commission asks people to report suspected scams in three places: your local police, Scamwatch, and the Home Affairs Border Watch online form. The Scamwatch jobs and employment scams page also lists the signs to describe in your report, such as contact out of the blue on WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram, hiring with no interview, and a request for a "recruitment fee".

If the offer looks like it could lead to forced work rather than a job, report it to NAPTIP as well, on 627 or *627#, the toll-free line 234 703 0000 203, or 0800CALLNAPTIP. Our article on NAPTIP's red flags for trafficking disguised as work explains what to look for.

For a genuine visa question, the High Commission points people to the Home Affairs Global Service Centre on +61 2 6196 0196. The High Commission in Abuja itself is on +234 (0)20 9460 6960.

Common mistakes Nigerians make with "embassy" job emails

Trusting the letterhead. Logos and signatures cost nothing to copy. The sender's domain and the claims inside the message are what count.
Paying a "small" first fee. The EFCC warns that visa scammers come back for repeated fees. The first payment is rarely the last.
Sending a passport scan "for processing". Your data page in the wrong hands can be misused. Hold it back until you have checked the employer and the agent.
Believing a visa can be bought. Home Affairs warns that people who commit visa fraud through a scam agent risk refusal or cancellation and a ban from Australia of up to 10 years. Using a fake document hurts your genuine chances later.
Skipping the paperwork you control. Real applications need your own passport, Police Character Certificate and medical. Our checklist of documents needed to relocate to Australia from Nigeria shows what a genuine move involves.

Frequently asked questions

Can the Australian High Commission in Abuja offer me a job?

No. The High Commission states that no Australian diplomat or Australian Border Force Special Agent will contact you offering jobs or visas. Jobs come from employers in Australia, and visas are decided by the Department of Home Affairs.

What email address does a real Australian government officer use?

The High Commission says genuine border-related email addresses end with @dfat.gov.au or @border.gov.au, and Home Affairs treats any message claiming to be from it without a .gov.au ending as a scam. A Gmail, Yahoo, .com or .net address is not the Australian Government.

Someone sent me an Australian work permit. Is it real?

No. Australia does not issue work permits, visa labels or Labour Market Impact Assessments, so a document with that name is fake. A real Australian visa is applied for through ImmiAccount and can be checked in VEVO.

Can I visit the High Commission in Abuja to confirm my visa?

The High Commission does not process visa or citizenship applications; Home Affairs handles them through ImmiAccount. For a visa question, call the Home Affairs Global Service Centre on +61 2 6196 0196, and check any grant yourself in VEVO.

Where do I report a fake Australian job offer email from Nigeria?

The High Commission asks people to report suspected scams to local police, to Scamwatch, or through the Home Affairs Border Watch online form. If the offer looks like recruitment for forced work, NAPTIP also takes reports on 627 or *627#.

Key takeaways

No Australian diplomat or Border Force officer offers jobs or visas, so an "embassy" job email is fake.
Real Australian border-related addresses end in @dfat.gov.au or @border.gov.au; check the full sender address.
Australia has no "work permit"; a real visa is applied for in ImmiAccount and shows in VEVO.
Never pay a pre-employment fee or send your passport to an unchecked recruiter.
Report fake offers to the police, Scamwatch or Border Watch, and to NAPTIP if trafficking is possible.

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