Fake Employment Letters: Red Flags and How to Verify

Why Letters Are Easy to Fake

An employment letter has no required format, so there is no standard to check it against. Letterhead takes minutes to copy from a company website, and the signature, title and phone number are whatever the writer typed.

The more serious version is the fake employer. A fraudster sets up a website, a phone line and an email domain for a company that does not exist, or lists a friend as the HR contact. When you call the number on the letter, someone answers and confirms everything. That is why the most important rule on this page is where you get the phone number.

Red Flags on the Letter

One flag is a reason to look closer. Several together mean the letter should carry no weight until the job is confirmed another way.

• The only contact is a mobile number or a free email address (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo) rather than the company’s own domain.
• The email domain is close to the real company’s but not the same, for example an extra word or a different ending.
• No street address, or an address that maps to a residence, a mailbox store or a virtual office.
• The signer’s name and title cannot be found anywhere outside the letter.
• Salary stated as a round annual figure that does not match the pay stubs or deposits.
• A start date that conflicts with the pay stubs, the bank deposits or the applicant’s rental history.
• Generic wording that could describe any job, with no department, hours or employment type.
• The letter is dated well before the application, or undated.
• The applicant pushes you to call a specific person, or to call right away, or says HR does not take calls.

Look Up the Employer Yourself

Before you contact anyone, confirm the employer exists and find its contact details from a source the applicant does not control. The Privacy Commissioner gives the same advice in its identity theft guidance: check that an organization is legitimate before you act.¹

• Search for the company’s own website and compare its domain with the letter’s email address.
• Find the main switchboard on that website or in a directory, not the direct line on the letter.
• For a larger employer, check that the office address on the letter matches a real location.
• For a small business, check that it has an online footprint older than a few weeks.

A company that exists does not mean the applicant works there. This step only tells you where to call.

Confirm Through Payroll or Deposits First

The strongest confirmation does not involve the letter at all. A payroll record the applicant connects with their own login confirms the employer, employment status and income as the payroll system holds them. PropTx Verify integrates with payroll providers to verify employment at the source this way.

When payroll cannot be connected, the bank account where the pay lands is the next source: regular deposits on a payroll cadence, from the employer or its payroll company, starting around the claimed start date. Compare these with the letter line by line. See how to verify a tenant’s employment for the full sequence.

Ask for consent before either check. Pay and bank data are sensitive financial information, and the Privacy Commissioner’s guidance is that sensitive information generally calls for express consent.²

Calling Through a Public Number

A call still settles cases the data cannot: a new job with no deposits yet, an employer that does not use a connectable payroll provider, or documents that disagree. Do it this way:

1. Get the applicant’s consent first. The Privacy Commissioner expects landlords to obtain consent for reference and background checks.³
2. Call the main number you found yourself and ask for payroll or human resources.
3. Ask whether the person is currently employed, in what role, and since when. Many employers will not confirm salary by phone; do not press.
4. Do not ask anything touching a Human Rights Code ground, such as family status, disability or place of origin.
5. Write down who you spoke to, the number you used, the date and what was confirmed.

If the switchboard has never heard of the signer, or transfers you to the same number printed on the letter, treat the letter as unverified. Alex, PropTx Verify’s voice assistant, places these calls to employers around the clock and confirms employment status, income and job title. See how a call works.

If the Letter Turns Out to Be Fake

A letter that is made up, or a genuine letter with the salary or dates altered, is a false document under the Criminal Code, and knowingly using it as genuine is a separate offence.^4,5 Decline the application on the basis of employment you could not verify and keep your notes.

You can report it to local police and to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, which accepts reports from witnesses as well as victims.⁶ If the letter named a real company, that employer may want to know its name is being used.

Run the same checks on every applicant for the unit. The Ontario Human Rights Commission notes that applying criteria to some applicants and not others can be evidence of discrimination.⁷ More on the overall order of checks is in rental application fraud.

This page is general information, not legal advice. For a decision that turns on specific facts, talk to a lawyer or licensed paralegal.

Questions

Sources

1. Identity theft

   Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, How to reduce the risk of identity theft, 2. Avoid scams and fraud (modified 2024-12-18). Accessed October 22, 2026.

2. Guidelines for obtaining meaningful consent

   Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Form of consent: express consent; Sensitivity. Accessed October 22, 2026.

3. Privacy in the landlord and tenant relationship

   Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Can a landlord look into my background by looking at what I post on social media or by calling another landlord?. Accessed October 22, 2026.

4. Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46

   Justice Laws Website, Government of Canada, s. 366(1) and (2), forgery and making a false document; current to 2026-09-30. Accessed October 22, 2026.

5. Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46

   Justice Laws Website, Government of Canada, s. 368(1), use, trafficking or possession of forged document. Accessed October 22, 2026.

6. Report fraud and cybercrime

   Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Report online; Why you should report fraud and cybercrime (modified 2025-11-27). Accessed October 22, 2026.

7. Policy on human rights and rental housing, V. Identifying discrimination in rental housing

   Ontario Human Rights Commission, s. 4.2 Rental criteria. Accessed October 22, 2026.