Back to Africa Check

Job advert for over 9,400 Total Kenya vacancies is fake

A job advert flagged by Facebook claims that Total Kenya PLC, part of the global Total Group, a French multinational oil and gas company, is looking for more than 9,400 employees in Kenya.

The advert claims that the massive job recruitment is for people interested in working as petrol station attendants, drivers, engineers, car wash cleaners, guards, machine operators, receptionists and marketers, among other positions.



Applicants are asked to fill in their details on a form and are promised salaries of KSh 28,000 per month (approximately US$270), with those coming from hardship areas promised KSh 32,000 (approximately $308).

[Note: Hardship areas in Kenya are places officially recognised as having unfavourable conditions for residents to fully participate in the social and economic life of Kenya, because of cultural or geographical isolation. Civil servants working in these areas are paid “hardship allowances”, on top of their salaries.]

Applicants asked to pay KSh300


Applicants are also asked to pay a registration fee of KSh 300 ($3) “to cater for processing and filing your employment documentation for those who will qualify to work with us.”

But there is a catch! The advert makes clear that only applicants who pay the registration fee will be considered and contacted. A suspicious phone number is provided where payments are to be made via M-Pesa, a phone-based money transfer service.

‘Our adverts are posted on our official website’


In the career section of Total Kenya, there is no such advert. Neither is it on the official Facebook and Twitter pages of the company.

The company has cautioned the public against falling prey to the advert, through its official website, Facebook and Twitter accounts.

“Our attention has been drawn to fake job adverts circulating online. We notify the public that our recruitment adverts are posted on our official website: http://total.co.ke and on our social media pages,” the posts say.

Always be suspicious if a job advert asks you to pay a registration fee to apply for a job. This is a red flag that the advert may be a scam.

Africa Check debunked similar claims targeting Kenya Women Microfinance Bank (KWFT) and National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) in July 2019. – Dancan Bwire

Republish our content for free

Please complete this form to receive the HTML sharing code.

For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false

A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?

Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.

Publishers guide

Africa Check teams up with Facebook

Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.

The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.

You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.

Add new comment

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
limit: 600 characters

Want to keep reading our fact-checks?

We will never charge you for verified, reliable information. Help us keep it that way by supporting our work.

Become a newsletter subscriber

Support independent fact-checking in Africa.