The Instant Red Flag Test
Recruitment fraud is one of the more common ways identity scammers reach UK job seekers. Posing as a recruiter, the scammer harvests passport photos, driving licences, and bank details, then uses them to open fraudulent accounts, apply for credit, or sell the identity on. The good news: nearly every scam follows the same pattern, and you can spot it before sending anything.
If any of these apply, treat the request as a scam: the recruiter asks for your passport before an interview, contacts you from a personal Gmail or WhatsApp number, pressures you to act “urgently”, asks for upfront fees, or dangles a salary that’s clearly above market rate. The combination is even more telling. A legitimate UK employer or recruitment agency won’t hit more than one of these signals, ever.
The single most reliable rule is timing. Legitimate employers only request identity documents after making a formal written job offer that you have accepted. If someone asks for your passport during initial contact, before any interview, or via informal channels, stop responding and report the interaction to Action Fraud (0300 123 2040).
When Legitimate Jobs Need Passport
Under UK right-to-work legislation, employers must verify your identity and eligibility to work in the UK. It’s a legal requirement, but it only applies after you’ve been offered and accepted a position. A real request comes after a written job offer, during official onboarding, and through the company’s HR system rather than someone’s personal email.
Even when the request is clearly legitimate, you have the right to ask how your passport will be handled. A professional employer will explain their verification process, confirm how long they retain copies, and offer secure submission methods (an HR portal, an encrypted upload link, or in-person verification). If they can’t answer those questions clearly, that’s a secondary red flag worth noting before you send anything.
Share Your Passport Securely
AES-256 encrypted upload links. Auto-delete after download. No accounts needed.
Share Documents Safely When Required
Once you’ve confirmed the request is legitimate, with a written job offer in hand, a verified employer, and a formal onboarding process, you still need to share your passport securely. Email is not the answer. Email attachments sit on multiple servers in transit, stay in inboxes until manually deleted, and replicate into backups uncontrolled.
Better options, in order of preference: show your passport in person at an onboarding meeting; upload through the employer’s HR portal (most large UK employers run one); use an encrypted upload link such as FileSeal that auto-deletes after the document is downloaded. Whichever channel you use, ask how long they retain the copy and what security applies to it. A professional employer will have clear answers; the absence of those answers is a late-stage red flag worth noting.
Send Your Documents Securely to Legitimate Recruiters
When a verified recruiter needs your passport, don't email it. Send it securely instead. Show them how professional document collection should work.
Written by the FileSeal security and compliance team. We specialise in document security, GDPR compliance, and data protection for UK professionals. Our guides are reviewed by industry practitioners and updated regularly.