Resigning from a secure job at home to accept an offer in Dubai is one of the biggest leaps a person can make, and sadly it is exactly the moment scammers target. Fake UAE offer letters, complete with copied logos and invented HR departments, are used to extract fees for visas, medicals and processing that a genuine employer would never ask a candidate to pay. Before you hand in your notice, verify the offer properly. The checks below use official UAE channels and cost you nothing but a little patience.
Start With the Red Flags in the Letter Itself
A genuine offer letter normally names the company exactly as it appears on its trade licence, states the job title, salary breakdown, start arrangements and the name of an authorised signatory. Be suspicious of letters that are vague about duties but lavish about perks, promise salaries far above the market for the role, or arrive from free email accounts rather than a company domain.
Pressure is another warning sign. Scammers insist you must pay within days to secure the visa, warn you not to contact the company directly, or communicate only through messaging apps. Watch especially for these patterns:
- Any request for you to pay for your own visa, entry permit or work permit processing
- Requests for payment by gift card, cryptocurrency or personal bank transfer
- No interview, or an interview conducted entirely by chat with no video call
- A contract that you are told not to show to anyone else
- Salary and benefits wildly better than comparable Dubai roles
Under UAE labour practice, recruitment and visa costs are the employer’s responsibility, and charging jobseekers for them is a hallmark of fraud. Treat any upfront payment request as a stop sign, not a formality.
Check That the Company Actually Exists
Every legitimate Dubai employer operates under a trade licence, issued either by Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism for mainland companies or by a free zone authority such as DMCC, JAFZA or Dubai Media City. Ask the recruiter for the company’s licence number and full legal name, then check it. Many free zones publish member directories, and official UAE government portals provide licence enquiry services; a company that cannot be found anywhere is a serious concern.
Then verify the contact independently. Find the company’s real phone number and website through your own search, not through links in the offer email, and call the office to confirm the role exists and the person recruiting you works there. Scammers frequently impersonate well-known UAE firms, so the company being famous proves nothing; the specific offer and HR contact must check out.
Use MOHRE and Official Visa Channels
For private-sector jobs, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, MOHRE, oversees employment contracts and work permits. A genuine hiring process leads to an official job offer and contract through MOHRE’s system, which you sign before or as your work permit is processed; MOHRE’s website and contact centre can confirm how the process should work and help you check an offer. If a recruiter says MOHRE is not involved at all in a mainland private-sector hire, ask why.
For the visa side, entry permits run through ICP at the federal level and, in Dubai, GDRFA, with Amer centres providing in-person services. Once a real employer starts your permit, there will be an official application you can track with a reference number. No third party can legitimately sell you a work visa: employment entry permits are sponsored by the employer, not bought by the candidate.
Verify Before You Resign, Not After
Sequence matters as much as the checks themselves. Receive the offer, verify the company and the MOHRE process, review the official contract, see evidence that your entry permit application is under way through your employer, and only then resign. Do not book one-way flights or ship your belongings on the strength of an unverified PDF.
Keep written records of everything: the original advert, emails, the offer letter and any payment requests. If something proves fraudulent, those records support a report to the police in your home country and to UAE authorities through official channels.
A real Dubai offer survives scrutiny easily, because the company, the licence, the contract system and the permit trail all line up. Take the extra week to check, use official sources such as MOHRE and icp.gov.ae, and resign only when the paperwork is verifiably real. That patience protects your savings and your current job.
Related Guides
- How to Verify a UAE Visa Offer Letter Before You Resign From Your Job Abroad
- Is Your UAE Job Offer Real? How to Check a Visa Offer Letter Before Resigning
- How to Spot a Fake Job Offer in Dubai: Visa Fees, Agent Scams and Verification Checks
- Jobseeker Visa in the UAE: Degree Attestation, Stay Limits and Conversion to Employment