In short: English Quest has been reported by South African job seekers in connection with suspected recruitment scams. Treat any offer using this name with caution, never pay a fee, and verify before sharing personal details.

Red flags reported, and what each one means

Recruiter used a foreign (non-SA) WhatsApp number

A recruiter for a South African job contacting you from a foreign number is a strong signal. Numbers beginning +62, +91 or +234 appear repeatedly in these reports.

Sent you to a Google Site, bit.ly, or fake link instead of an official careers page

Real vacancies live on the company's own careers page. A Google Site, a bit.ly link or a lookalike domain means nobody at the real company is involved, and anything you enter goes straight to whoever built the page.

Promised an unrealistic salary for the work involved

A salary far above the market rate for the work is the bait. R40,000 a month for data entry with no experience is not a job offer; it is the reason you are expected to overlook everything else.

Contact details reported

These numbers and addresses have been linked to the reports. If a message you received uses any of them, do not reply or pay.

fatima.arisha@theenglishquest.com

Other names reported recently

Scammers change the company they claim to be from. If the message you received used a different name, it may be one of these.

How this scam works, explained

These guides cover the same tactics in detail: how the approach is made, what the money is asked for, and how the real organisation actually recruits.

How to stay safe

A real employer pays you. You never pay to be hired.
Verify the company on CIPC before sharing your ID or paying anything.
Apply only through official careers pages, not WhatsApp numbers from a post.
If you already paid, report it to your bank and SAPS immediately.

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