That&#x27;s a good question, it&#x27;s tough. There are definitely fake jobs out there. Some lazy recruiters will cut&#x2F;paste real job descriptions straight from the client, but change the city to one nearby to throw off competition or applicants. Others will have fake jobs to collect resumes.<p>I started doing recruiting last year (my background is dev&#x2F;mgmt), and in my ads I make it clear who I am with a link to my company site and LinkedIn profile. I say what groups I run, so they can verify on Meetup if they wanted, as well.<p>When I get your application, I&#x27;ll email you requesting a phone call (or a cup of coffee if you prefer), so your investment is very little and you can always hang up if it&#x27;s not for you.<p>On a phone call, I&#x27;ll tell you exactly who the company is, because I need to know if you applied before. Most candidates do a quick email search if they can&#x27;t remember. Submitting you when you&#x27;ve already applied, and maybe even interviewed, makes me look bad and you look worse, and I don&#x27;t want either. If the recruiter won&#x27;t tell you the client, just walk away.<p>If I reach out to you directly, I&#x27;ll tell you up front who the client is and give details about the position.<p>A number of devs come to me by referral because I&#x27;ve been active in the local dev community for 15 years. I hit a lot of meetups and code camps. If you ask friends, they may have a recruiter they recommend.