Check the license first. Sending-country regulators — such as overseas employment administrations and labor ministries — publish searchable lists of licensed recruiters and approved job orders, and receiving countries typically maintain business registers where the agency's legal entity should appear. A license that cannot be found in an official registry is a reason to walk away.
Check the money second. Under the ILO's fair recruitment guidelines, workers should not pay recruitment fees; where national law permits limited charges, they are capped and receipted. Upfront 'slot reservation' payments, fees payable only in cash or via money transfer, and requests to hand over a passport 'for safekeeping' are among the most reliable indicators of fraud.