Scam alert! Energy company Sasol not offering learnerships to 50,000 young people in South Africa

Signs of a scam

There are several signs that the message is a scam. First, the link in the message does not take users to Sasol’s official website. It also ends in “.xyz”, a domain often used by fraudulent sites pretending to be legitimate organisations.

When we clicked on it, our antivirus software immediately flagged the site as a threat in the URL blacklist category. This is a list of websites identified as unsafe and blocked to protect users from malicious activity, including malware, phishing and spam.

Second, the message asks users to “Also Share To Others”. This is an example of engagement bait, a tactic used on social media to encourage users to like, share or comment on a post. This boosts the reach of the message and the website it links to.

Africa Check found no reports of Sasol launching a mass recruitment drive for 50,000 people. If such a large-scale recruitment were happening, Sasol would have announced it on its official channels.

Furthermore, the message promises benefits that sound too good to be true, including free transport, meals and immediate employment after training. Legitimate companies rarely make such guarantees in their job adverts.

Sasol debunks the message

Sasol has debunked the claims made in the viral learnership message. On its official social media accounts, the company warned that a fraudulent learnership advert was being shared online.

In the same post, Sasol advised the public not to click on the link provided in the fake message or to share any personal information. According to the post, all legitimate Sasol opportunities are listed on the company’s official careers portal.

How to stay safe online

Africa Check has published a guide to help users identify fake job ads shared on social media. Scammers often use the names of trusted companies to lure people into sharing personal information. Here’s how you can protect yourself:

• Avoid suspicious links: Don’t click on strange or unfamiliar URLs, especially those that don’t match the company’s official website.
• Check spelling and grammar: Poorly written job adverts are often fake.
• Don’t share personal details: Never provide ID numbers, banking information or personal documents through social media or messaging apps.
• Verify first: Visit the company’s official website to confirm if the job or learnership is really being offered.
• Be cautious of urgency: Posts that pressure you to “apply now” or “share quickly” are almost always scams.

Still unsure if a job ad is genuine? Send it to us and we'll take a look.