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Job seeker safety

Apply with confidence. Stay alert.

"Looking for work should not cost you anything, and it should not cost you your safety. Every vacancy on MagodoPlus is read by an administrator before it is published, reports are worked by staff, and an account that breaks the rules can lose its ability to recruit. Here is what we do to keep the board clean, and how to look after yourself while you apply."

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What MagodoPlus does before you see a vacancy

"MagodoPlus is not a noticeboard where anybody can pin anything. A vacancy is written as a draft, sent for review, and read by an administrator before it appears in front of you. No vacancy reaches the board unless an administrator approves it, and editing one while it is live sends it back for review. Reports from the public are worked by staff, and an account that breaks the rules can have its ability to recruit suspended on its own. That is the ground you are standing on. The advice further down is what a sensible person does anyway."

  • Every vacancy is read by an administrator before it is published. No advert puts itself on the board.
  • No vacancy reaches the board unless an administrator approves it. An employer can pause their own advert and put it back, but nothing in their dashboard can approve one.
  • A vacancy that is edited while it is live goes back for review, and the changes do not appear until it is approved again.
  • A vacancy that is sent back always carries a written reason the employer can act on, so it is corrected rather than quietly resubmitted.
  • Moderation can flag a vacancy for a second look without changing whether it is published, so something suspect can be marked while it is being checked.
  • A vacancy that steers everybody off the platform and receives no applications here has its own filter in the console, because that is the shape a harvesting scam takes.
  • Reports are worked by staff, urgent first, and a report cannot be closed as "no action needed" without a note saying what was decided.
  • An account's ability to recruit can be suspended on its own, without touching anything else that business does on MagodoPlus.
  • Applying on MagodoPlus is always available on every vacancy, and there is no setting an employer can use to remove it.
  • Your CV is held on a private disk under a random filename with no web address, and every request to open it is checked at the moment it is made.
  • A closing date that has already passed cannot be published, and a vacancy leaves the board on its closing date.
  • Separately from the jobs board, a business on the MagodoPlus marketplace can complete document checks — identity document reviewed, CAC registration reviewed, physical location reviewed. That is a marketplace check. It is not shown on a vacancy, and an employer who only recruits here does not have it.

A genuine job should not require you to pay for the vacancy

"You should never have to pay to get a job. A genuine employer pays you. If an advert or a recruiter asks you for money before you have earned any — training, an interview, a uniform, a form, a medical, a guarantee — stop. Do not pay. Report the advert at /report."

Be careful with any request for

  • An application or "processing" fee before anybody will look at your CV.
  • Training you must pay for before you are allowed to start.
  • A uniform, an ID card or a safety kit you are told to buy up front.
  • A medical test at a clinic the employer chooses and you pay for.
  • A refundable deposit or caution fee to hold the role open for you.
  • Transport or logistics money sent ahead of an interview.
  • A registration fee to be added to an agency or recruitment database.
  • Payment for a police report, a guarantor form or a reference check.
  • Airtime, data or a voucher sent to a recruiter to "activate" your file.
  • A fee to release your offer letter or appointment letter.
Report a vacancy asking for money

Warning signs worth knowing

Any one of these is a reason to slow down and check. Several together is a reason to walk away.

  • You are asked for money at any stage, however small the amount and however reasonable the reason sounds.
  • The pay is far above what the work would normally earn, and the advert explains why only in vague terms.
  • You are offered the job without a proper interview, sometimes within minutes of applying.
  • The advert does not say clearly who the employer is, or the name changes once somebody contacts you.
  • Everything moves to WhatsApp immediately and the person will not take a call.
  • You are pushed to decide today: the role "closes tonight", other people are "waiting".
  • The message claims to come from a large company but is full of spelling and grammar mistakes.
  • You are asked for your BVN, your bank PIN, a card number or an OTP.
  • You are asked to receive money into your account and send part of it on to somebody else.
  • The interview is at a private house or a hotel room, or the address is only given an hour beforehand.
  • You are told to bring your original certificates and leave them behind.
  • An established company writes to you from a free email address rather than a company one.
  • You are asked to buy goods, airtime or vouchers and are promised a refund that never arrives.
  • The advert gives only off-platform contact details and pushes you away from applying here.

Never share these. With anyone.

  • Your MagodoPlus password, or the password to any other account. No employer and nobody from MagodoPlus will ever ask you for it.
  • Any one-time password or OTP sent to your phone or email, whatever reason you are given for it.
  • Your ATM or card PIN, which an employer has no use for at any stage of hiring.
  • Your card number, its expiry date or the three digits on the back.
  • Your internet or mobile banking username, password or transaction PIN.
  • Bank verification codes, transfer codes or a screenshot of one.
  • The answers to your security questions, or the recovery email and phone number on your accounts.
  • Access to your phone or laptop through any remote-control app somebody asks you to install.

Be careful with these

  • Your bank account details: a genuine employer needs them when you have accepted the job and payroll is being set up, never to interview you.
  • Your BVN: it ties together every bank account you hold. An employer does not need it. Payroll needs an account number, not your BVN, and no interview, test or form ever needs it.
  • Your NIN, passport, driving licence or a photograph of any of them: these are for an employer you have met and confirmed, at the point of employment.
  • Your home address: it tells a stranger where you sleep and when you are out, so give it when you have accepted a role, not when you are applying.
  • Your original certificates: take copies to an interview and keep the originals with you.
  • Your full name, date of birth and an ID number together: separately they are ordinary, together they are enough for somebody to try to open something in your name.
  • Photographs of documents sent in a chat: once they are sent, they can be forwarded anywhere and you cannot take them back.
  • A photograph of yourself holding your ID: no employer needs this to consider your application.

Applying on MagodoPlus

  • Applying on MagodoPlus is the route we support, and every vacancy carries it. There is no setting an employer can use to switch it off.
  • You need to be signed in with a customer account to apply. If you are not signed in, you are taken to sign in and brought straight back to the vacancy.
  • Your application carries five things: your name, your email, your phone number if you give one, an optional message, and your CV.
  • A CV is compulsory. Attach one, or keep one on your job profile and it is used automatically.
  • You can apply once to a vacancy. A second attempt is refused, so you cannot send the same application twice by mistake and the employer never receives two copies of it.
  • The application appears on /account/applications with the date you sent it, your message, and the stage the employer has set.
  • Nothing is emailed to you about it. Check the page rather than your inbox. An employer who wants to speak to you will use the details on your application.
  • The employer sees it in their dashboard, with the ones they have not opened at the top.
  • The CV attached to an application is a copy taken at the moment you applied, so replacing the CV on your profile next month does not change what an employer already received. Keep your own copy of the file you sent.
  • The employer never sees your job profile. They see only what you chose to send with that application.
  • If the vacancy later closes, expires or is taken down, your application stays on your list. Nothing deletes it.

If a vacancy sends you somewhere else

  • An employer may add up to four extra routes — an email address, a website, a WhatsApp number and a phone number — on top of applying here.
  • Those details are printed on the vacancy as plain text, and nothing at all is recorded when you use one.
  • Writing to an employer's own email or WhatsApp sends your details straight to them and will not appear in your MagodoPlus applications.
  • We cannot see whether you wrote, what you sent or whether anybody replied, so we have no record of that conversation to look at. The advert is still ours, though. Report it at /report and we can act on the vacancy and on the account behind it.
  • If you do use an off-platform route, keep your own copy: the address or number you wrote to, what you sent, and the date.
  • Never send documents, bank details or ID to an off-platform address that was given to you in a chat rather than printed on the vacancy.
  • An advert that offers only off-platform routes and steers you away from applying here is worth reporting at /report.
  • Apply here first where you can, and treat the extra routes as a follow-up rather than a replacement.

Check who is hiring

Everything below is on the vacancy or the business profile. It takes a minute to read.

  • Read the whole advert before you apply: who is hiring, where the work is, and what the job actually involves.
  • An advert that will not say plainly who the employer is has already told you something.
  • Search the employer's name yourself and see whether what you find matches what the advert says.
  • If the employer has a website or social channels, see whether the role, the address and the contact details match the advert. A small business may advertise in one place only, so a single listing is not itself a warning.
  • Be careful when a well-known company name arrives from a free email address.
  • If somebody contacts you about your application, check that the name and the role match the vacancy you actually applied to.
  • Ask straightforward questions before an interview: the office address, who you will be meeting, the hours, the pay.
  • Treat the employer name on a vacancy as a claim to check rather than as proof. It is typed in by the employer.
  • A vacancy does not link to a company page on MagodoPlus, and there is no employer page in the jobs section at all. A business that also sells here has a marketplace profile at magodoplus.com/vendors, but that is a marketplace listing, not proof about a vacancy. So check any "company page" link somebody sends you rather than taking it as confirmation.

What a trust indicator means

"Verification on MagodoPlus is a person reading documents a business uploaded. There are three checks and no others: identity document reviewed, CAC registration reviewed, physical location reviewed. A business asks for the ones that fit it, so a verified business may have completed one of them, two, or all three. We do not query the NIMC register, the CAC register or any other government database, so we will never tell you a business is \"NIN verified\" — that would describe a check nobody performed. Verification also belongs to the marketplace side of MagodoPlus: it is a check on a business that sells here, an employer who does not sell here cannot apply for it, and it is not shown on a vacancy. So keep the two apart. A published vacancy means an administrator read the advert and allowed it onto the board. It does not mean the employer behind it has been verified, and neither one is a promise about how they will behave once you are in a conversation with them."

  • Identity

    Identity document reviewed.

  • CAC registration

    CAC registration reviewed.

  • Physical location

    Physical location reviewed.

How verification works

Before, during and after the interview

Your CV

  • Your CV must be a PDF, a .doc or a .docx, and no larger than 5MB.
  • Files are checked by their contents rather than their name, so anything renamed to end in .pdf is refused before it is stored.
  • Your CV is stored on a private disk under a random filename, and there is no web address for it anywhere on MagodoPlus.
  • Only two people can open the copy you sent with an application: the employer whose vacancy you applied to, and staff who handle vacancies. A staff opening is recorded.
  • You can open the CV on your own job profile at any time, but the copy attached to a past application cannot be opened again from your side. Keep your own copy of the file you sent.
  • Every request to open a CV is re-checked at the moment it is made, so an employer cannot reach an application that is not theirs.
  • Put your name, your phone number and your email on your CV. You do not need your BVN, your bank details, your ID numbers or a passport photograph.
  • Leave your full home address off. The area you live in is enough for an employer working out whether the commute makes sense.
  • Keep referees' names and numbers off the CV you send out, and offer them when you are asked. They did not consent to being circulated.
  • Check the file before you attach it, because the copy the employer receives is fixed at the moment you apply.
  • Keep the CV on your job profile current, so you can apply quickly without hunting for a file each time.

Meeting in person

  • Confirm the address and who you are meeting before you leave home.
  • Tell somebody you trust where you are going and when you expect to be back.
  • Meet at the company's office or somewhere public. Not a private house, and never a hotel room.
  • Be wary of an interview arranged late at night, or at very short notice at the weekend.
  • Take copies of your documents and keep the originals with you.
  • Do not pay for anything at an interview: not a form, not a test, not a "processing" charge.
  • Keep your phone charged, and keep enough money for the journey home separate from anything else.
  • If you arrive and nothing matches what you were told, you are allowed to turn round and leave.
  • Nobody genuine is offended by questions about the address, the role or the pay. An interviewer who is offended has told you something.

Remote and online work

  • Remote work is real, but it is also the easiest kind of advert to fake, so check the employer exactly as you would for an office job.
  • Be suspicious of a remote role offered after a short chat and no real interview.
  • Never take money into your account to pass on to somebody else, however it is explained. That is how people are used to move stolen money.
  • Do not buy equipment, software or airtime up front on a promise that you will be reimbursed later.
  • Do not install remote-access or screen-control software on your own phone or laptop for a job you have not started.
  • A payment for more than you agreed, followed by a request to send back the difference, is a scam every time.
  • Get the terms in writing before you do any work: what you are delivering, what you are paid and when it is paid.
  • Be careful with an "employer" who only ever exists in a chat window and will not take a video call.
  • Do not sign anything or hand over documents to an organisation whose office address you cannot find anywhere.

Reporting a vacancy

These are the reasons the report form accepts for a vacancy. Choose the closest one and say what happened in your own words.

  • Asks for money from applicants
  • Looks like a scam
  • Misleading or untrue details
  • Position is already filled
  • Discriminatory wording
  • Posted more than once
  • Something else
Report a vacancy Contact support

What happens next

  • Reports are worked by staff, urgent first. Choosing "Asks for money from applicants" or "Looks like a scam" marks your report urgent the moment you send it, so pick the reason that fits rather than "Something else".
  • A person reads what you wrote and decides what to do. The decision is recorded, and a report cannot be closed as "no action needed" without a note saying why.
  • What may follow: the vacancy is flagged for a second look, sent back to the employer with a reason, or taken off the board.
  • An account's ability to recruit can be suspended on its own, without touching anything else that business does on MagodoPlus.
  • Some reports end with no action, because what was reported turns out to be legitimate. That is also a decision somebody made.
  • We cannot promise a particular outcome, and we will not pretend otherwise.
  • We do not tell the business who reported them. If you gave an email address, it is used to ask you a question and nothing else.
  • There is no reference number for a report and no way to open it again afterwards, so keep your own note of what you sent and when.
  • MagodoPlus cannot recover money you have already paid. Tell your bank and the police straight away, then report the advert to us.
  • Report a vacancy at /report, choose "A job advert", and pick "Asks for money from applicants" if that is what happened.

What is expected of you

  • Apply on MagodoPlus, so the application is on your list afterwards with the date you sent it, your message and the stage the employer has set. Keep your own copy of the CV you attached.
  • Read the whole advert before you apply, not only the salary line.
  • Never send money to get a job, no matter how convincing the reason.
  • Give sensitive details at the point they are genuinely needed, not because somebody asked for them early.
  • Keep your MagodoPlus password to yourself, and do not reuse it on other sites.
  • Keep your own copy of any conversation that happens off the platform.
  • Report an advert that asks for money as soon as you see it. It protects the next person as much as you.
  • Remember that applying is not an offer. A vacancy is a chance to be considered, and nothing on any platform guarantees you the job.
  • If something feels wrong, stop. You are allowed to walk away from an interview, a message or an offer without explaining yourself.

Employers have rules too — they are in the Terms of Use, and businesses selling here also follow the Vendor Rules.

Questions people ask

Does anybody actually check the jobs on this board?

Yes. Every vacancy is read by an administrator before it is published, and no vacancy reaches the board unless an administrator approves it. An employer can pause their own advert and put it back, but nothing in their dashboard can approve one. If an employer edits a vacancy while it is live, it goes back for review and the changes do not appear until it is approved again. A vacancy that is sent back always carries a written reason the employer can act on. We do not publish how long a review takes, because we would only be guessing.

A vacancy is published. Does that mean the employer is verified?

No, and the two should not be blurred. Publication means a person at MagodoPlus read the advert and allowed it onto the board. Verification is a separate check on a business that sells on the MagodoPlus marketplace, and it is not shown on a vacancy at all. An employer who only recruits here cannot apply for it. Read the advert and check the employer yourself, exactly as you would anywhere else.

Should I ever pay anything to apply for a job?

No. Not for a form, not for training, not for a uniform, not for a medical, not for a "processing fee" and not for a refundable deposit. A genuine employer pays you. If you are asked for money at any point, do not pay it, stop the conversation and report the advert at /report using the reason "Asks for money from applicants".

I already paid somebody. Can MagodoPlus get my money back?

No, and we will not pretend otherwise. We can take an advert off the board and suspend an account's ability to recruit, and that is the honest limit of what we can do. Tell your bank straight away and report it to the police, because they are the ones who can act on a transfer. Then report the advert to us at /report so the next person does not meet the same one.

Will the employer know it was me who reported them?

We do not tell the business who reported them. If you give an email address, it is used only to ask you a question about your report. There is no reference number for a report and no way to open it again later, and you are not told the decision, so keep your own note of what you sent and when. Somebody does read it, and what was decided is recorded internally.

I messaged an employer on WhatsApp instead of applying here. Is that an application?

No. Using an employer's own email, WhatsApp, phone number or website sends your details directly to them and leaves no record on MagodoPlus. It will not appear in your applications, and we cannot see it. Only an application sent through the vacancy page is a MagodoPlus application. If something goes wrong, report the advert at /report — we can act on the vacancy even though we cannot see the conversation.

Who can see my CV?

The employer whose vacancy you applied to, and staff who handle vacancies. Every staff opening is recorded. You can open the CV on your own job profile at any time, but the copy sent with a past application cannot be reopened from your side, so keep your own copy of what you sent. Your CV sits on a private disk under a random filename with no web address, so it cannot be found, listed or linked to. Each request to open it is checked at the moment it is made.

Can employers search for candidates or browse my profile?

No. There is no candidate database, no CV search and no talent pool on MagodoPlus. An employer can only see applications sent to their own vacancies. Your job profile — your headline, summary, skills, experience and availability — is read in your own dashboard and nowhere else.

Can I withdraw an application after sending it?

No. An application stays as you sent it, and you can only apply once to the same vacancy. If something needs correcting, contact the employer using any contact details they published on the vacancy. Be careful before you apply rather than after.

The vacancy I applied to has disappeared. What happened to my application?

A vacancy leaves the board on its closing date, or when the employer pauses or closes it, or if moderation takes it down. None of that deletes your application. It stays on /account/applications with the date you sent it and the stage the employer set, and a job you saved that has closed is kept and labelled rather than quietly dropped.

I already sell on MagodoPlus. Do I need a second account to advertise a job?

No. An existing business never needs a second account and never needs a second business profile to recruit. You activate the employer capability on the account you already have, and your listings, your reviews and your standing are untouched. Activating it does not verify your business, and it does not let you approve your own vacancy — that stays with moderation.

Something has gone wrong. How do I get help?

Report an advert at /report, choosing "A job advert", and open a support ticket at /support. Both are open whether or not you are signed in. Sign in first if you can: a ticket opened on your account stays there for you to read and reply to, while a ticket opened as a guest gives you a reference, but you cannot open it again afterwards and nothing is sent to you about it. Quote that reference if you write to us again. The email address and phone number on our Contact page also reach us.

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