Inside devilcorp: the job scheme preying on graduates
How the 'devilcorp' lures jobseekers into commission-only work with promises of success
By Caleb Ching
HELP WANTED: A mock-up of a devilcorp-style job ad. Photograph: Caleb Ching
HELP WANTED: A mock-up of a devilcorp-style job ad. Photograph: Caleb Ching
HELL WANTED: A mock-up of a devilcorp-style job ad. Photograph: Caleb Ching
HELL WANTED: A mock-up of a devilcorp-style job ad. Photograph: Caleb Ching
What is devilcorp?
Jobseekers have reported being targeted by high-pressure sales companies through misleading job listings and bait-and-switch interview techniques.
Commission-only roles advertised to be salaried were often door-to-door sales masquerading as marketing or graduate jobs.
The frequency with which jobseekers have encountered such tactics has prompted some to dub these companies 'devilcorp'.
'Devilcorp' is used to describe an alleged network of pyramid-like firms which profit from recruiting and exploiting workers.
Devilcorp
(noun, informal, derogatory)
An alleged network of commission-only direct sales companies, criticised for deceptive hiring practices, cult-like
workplace culture, exploitative labor conditions, and constant rebranding under new business names.
The origin of the term is uncertain but it rose to prominence
during the mid-2010s in online communities and forums where
ex-employees shared their experiences. Today it has become
a blanket term used by jobseekers to warn each other of applying
to companies which they deem connected to this network or engage
in their practices.
Devilcorp traits:
Commission-only jobs
Misleading job advertisements
Multilevel recruitment
Long, unpaid hours
Frequent rebranding
Cult-like work culture
Youth targeted recruitment
Exaggerated prospects and income
Why does this matter now?
While the devilcorp concept has been growing in recognition since the 2010s, the topic has been boosted in salience as various elements have coalesced to shape the job market.
From ghost jobs to rising youth unemployment, devilcorp is but one of various factors plaguing jobseekers today.
The UK job market is constantly evolving as new technologies are adopted, employer expectations shift and economic factors change.
Youth unemployment is growing according to data compiled in the Youth Unemployment Statistics House of Commons research briefing. In December 2025 to February 2026, 713,000 people aged 16 to 24 were unemployed, taking the unemployment rate for young people up to 15.8%.
43:1 was the ratio of applications per UK job posting in 2025 according to research from Wave Recruiting Trends, suggesting that the job market remains competitive.
Similarly, Office for National Statistics data shows there were 2.6 unemployed people for every vacancy in October to December 2025, up from 1.9 a year earlier. The same data suggests vacancies fell by 73,000 (9.2%) year-on-year in November 2025 to January 2026.
56% of UK jobseekers suspect they have applied for a ‘ghost job’ according to a 2024 Greenhouse report.
'Ghost jobs' refers to job listings for non-existent positions or roles not actively being filled by employers. Ghost jobs can be used to collect data and resumes for future use or to create the illusion of company growth.
A 2023 study by career platform StandOut CV found over a third (34.4%) of listings across 20 popular UK roles were ghost jobs.
The backdrop of all of these elements amounts to increased vulnerability for 18-24 year-old jobseekers.
This increased risk leaves the demographic exposed to the devilcorp phenomenon which has adapted its tactics, marketing its recruitment communications with ‘entry-level’, ‘graduate’ and ‘no experience necessary’ terms.
James' Story
James* (not his real name) was 19 when he interviewed with a devilcorp firm in Liverpool after finding the role listed on Indeed, one of the UK’s most popular job board sites.
“I needed money at the time so I was applying for pretty much anything,” James said, adding: “They replied scarily fast.
“I do the zoom call and it’s all a bunch of flowery words. They spoke a lot about ‘financial freedom’ but nothing extensive about what the job would entail.”
James was invited into the office for an in person interview and to prepare, he researched the company online and checked their Instagram page.
“All the photos were very curated,” James said. “They were showing off this life of luxury, like trips abroad and photos at the races.”
Arriving for his interview, James was led into a conference room for a presentation from which, it still wasn’t apparent what the details of his role would be.
Looking around the room, he noted the images decorating it. He was later told they were the firm’s ‘alumni’ and other locations they operated in across the country.
"They spoke a lot about ‘financial freedom’ but nothing extensive about what the job would entail.”
James was then introduced to the owner of the company who was once again vague on the details of the role. James said: “When I asked the owner for more details, he kept dodging the questions I had.
“He spoke about how one of his employees set up his own ‘business’ and that if you stick at it long enough, you could be like him.”
“They only mentioned that it was commission-only in the interview.
The owner offered James a job but as he was leaving the building, he overheard some workers “talking about how they knocked on doors for 3 hours but got no sales and no sales meant no money.
“I left and never came back.”
*Name changed for anonymity
The Man with a plan: Ben Jamieson
Ben Jamieson runs the open source intelligence platform devilcorp.org and the popular subreddit r/Devilcorp. He works to document the connections between devilcorp firms and raise awareness of their tactics.
Ben first encountered devilcorp in 2017 although he had no idea at the time how much the phenomenon would shape his life and launch such a lengthy, meticulous pursuit. Like so many others, his story began with a job listing,
“The job ad was called ‘worst graduate job: don’t bother’. It was a sarcastic ad. It said ‘if you hate going on extravagant trips, don’t apply for this.’”
Ben attended an interview at one of the company’s London offices, prim and proper in a suit- ready to start his career.
“I was thinking ‘oh my God, I’ve stumbled upon this amazing opportunity when I didn’t know what I was doing with my life before’,” he said.
Characterising the interview as a “sales pitch”, Ben said: “It was very cultish- to try to get you excited about it. You still don’t know what it is.”
Following the interview, there was a trial phase. This “shadowing day” consisted of accompanying existing workers as they stood on high streets, stopping people to sign them up to monthly direct debit donations.
“You still don’t realise a lot about the job. You might not realise it’s sales until that point,” Ben said, adding: “You still don’t know it’s commission-only and you’re about to start the job because they’ll use terms like ‘no win, no fee’.”
Burned by the experience, Ben wanted to learn more about the company he’d encountered and the others like it but it proved difficult. “I noticed after my own experience that there wasn’t anywhere for me to share it,” he said.
The companies he was interested in appeared to have means to suppress or negate poor optics and unfavourable discourse. This included removing bad reviews on sites frequented by jobseekers.
“The review would either be instantly removed from Glassdoor or Google or it would be drowned out by hundreds of five star reviews they’ve asked their salespeople to write,” Ben said, adding: “They will throw defamation claims on any negative press, any negative experiences online.”
Ben initially started reaching out to past devilcorp workers and interviewing them about their experiences. A journalism student at the time, he began writing articles which attracted the attention of the BBC. In turn, he was able to help them produce documentaries on the topic.
“I was reading We Are Bellingcat by Eliot Higgins and I was writing my final year dissertation about open source journalism and open source techniques,” he said. “I thought: how can I apply an open source method to this particular topic?”
The answer was r/Devilcorp. The subreddit exists as a space for discussions on devilcorp, sharing personal experiences and seeking advice on questionable job ads. The forum attracts 5 million views a year, 300,000 a month.
COMMUNITY: the subreddit allows people to share their experiences with devilcorp companies
“The moment they [devilcorp] start recruiting and interviewing people, the first person that interviews with them, there’s a very good chance they share a thread on here to say this is a new office," Ben said.
“That becomes another person who’s joined this group and I’ve made them into a researcher,” he said, adding: “It could be someone in the US, someone here in London, someone in South Africa, someone in India- anyone who’s interacted with one of these offices.
“It’s got to over 30,000 people.”
Still, Ben felt there was more to be done. He wanted a way to further centralise the information he was generating. “How can I make this more useful?” he asked. “Why don’t I create my own search engine?”
Ben created devilcorp.org which he describes as “the world's only dedicated search engine for devilcorp firms.”
The engine draws on different resources, collating their findings. It is connected to Companies House API (application programming interface) and links this to Ben’s own corporate research and open source intelligence.
“Every time one of them legally renames or relocates, this will have that information available instantly,” Ben said.
Alongside Companies House data, the search engine also identifies the parent company of the network a particular firm is thought to be connected to. It also scans the subreddit and fetches user discussions on the particular firm.
“Think of it like an information war. It’s like an arms race. They’re going to be constantly trying to fight back by opening new offices or trying to take stuff down with defamation claims,” he said, adding: “You can Google search the company and then the Reddit discussions come up before the company’s website.
“I’ve now got a fantastic community behind me who helps me with that.”
The community includes former salespeople, team leaders and owners who’ve been in the industry for over ten years.
OPEN SOURCE: Ben Jamieson founded the devilcorp.org investigative platform. Photograph: Ben Jamieson
OPEN SOURCE: Ben Jamieson founded the devilcorp.org investigative platform. Photograph: Ben Jamieson
SOLICITING: An example of street canvassing such as many devilcorp firms engage in. Photograph: Caleb Ching
SOLICITING: An example of street canvassing such as many devilcorp firms engage in. Photograph: Caleb Ching
FIGHT BACK: Ben established the Devilcorp.org investigative platform in 2019. Photograph: Ben Jamieson
FIGHT BACK: Ben established the Devilcorp.org investigative platform in 2019. Photograph: Ben Jamieson
TRAWLING: Ben collates data from devilcorp job ads. GIF: Caleb Ching
TRAWLING: Ben collates data from devilcorp job ads. GIF: Caleb Ching
CATCH THE DEVIL: devilcorp.org is the only dedicated search engine for "Devilcorp" firms. Photograph: Ben Jamieson
CATCH THE DEVIL: devilcorp.org is the only dedicated search engine for "Devilcorp" firms. Photograph: Ben Jamieson
How does devilcorp work?
From his vantage point and dogged research, Ben possesses a rare expertise in devilcorp. He understands how they operate and why.
While devilcorp firms will hire anyone, they have preferences in recruiting to better enable their business model. “Naive people or desperate people,” Ben said, “Or people who are desperate enough to work a sales job that, at the end of the week, may very well not make any money out of.”
In the context of growing youth unemployment and the shortage of graduate jobs, a growing target demographic with increased vulnerabilities is fixed in the sights of devilcorp companies.
“They’re hoping for younger people who aren't familiar with the working world- like graduates who go to a commission-only sales job interview in a suit, thinking it’s a marketing position,” Ben said. “The job ad will say graduate marketing and you won’t know it’s a sales job and you won’t know it’s commission only.”
Ben believes this sleight of hand is at the heart of the devilcorp model.
“The core principle is deceit,” he said. “If they didn’t lie on their job ads, then they wouldn’t catch out graduates who don’t want to work in sales.
“Then they wouldn't be able to recruit and be able to put enough people out into the field to make enough money to keep their offices open.”
Ben argues the job ads are intentionally vague so marketing graduates or would-be business consultants read what they want from the listing. “You almost invent the role in your head and then sell the role to yourself,” he said.
According to Ben, this deception continues after a candidate accepts a position, forming part of the workplace “hustle culture”. Financial success and income potential are exaggerated while failure to hit unreasonable sales goals are blamed on a worker’s negative mindset.
“The way that the owner of that particular office would frame it is they weren’t cut out for it,” Ben said. “It’s a difficult job. It’s entrepreneurial- you get out what you put into it.” This is something Ben refutes.
“You can work hard, but you’re working hard in a system designed to make as much money out of you as possible before you eventually realise that you’re not going to be succeeding in this and you leave,” he said, adding: “You’re being deceived. No matter how hard you think you need to work in the job, you were lied to about the job to begin with.”
On whether the team leaders are complicit or believers in what is being espoused, Ben makes no qualms. “They’re taught how to avoid difficult questions. They do have their own sort of doublespeak,” he said. “They say ‘we told you it was a no win, no fee’ or ‘we told you it’s marketing’. None of the terms they say mean what they actually mean.
“They will intentionally lie to you, a lot of the time by omission, just to keep you in the job.”
Maintaining and growing a workforce is integral to the structure of devilcorp businesses. A team leader needs to expand their ranks in order to be promoted to an owner. “The recruitment is more important than the sales,” Ben said, adding: “Even then the recruitment is still sales, you’re just selling the role to an applicant.”
It is this combination of deception and need to recruit that results in high turnover rates and drives the constant rebranding and relocation of firms. Ben has kept up-to-date on the man who interviewed him in 2017 and found he had owned approximately five offices since they’d met.
“It’s a business model which itself is designed to fail,” Ben said.“You open an office and then funnel as much money to the parent company as possible before it fails. Then the parent company opens another one somewhere else.”
Is devilcorp a cult?
In addition to their playbook of business practices, Ben alleges devicorp firms are also employing psychologically and socially manipulative tactics to manage their workforce. Rather than a career, working for such a company can become a lifestyle.
“This is a cult. It’s a corporate cult,” Ben said. “They offer hope and opportunity to people who are lost.”
“They present some amazing opportunities to us and say ‘join this marketing company, we all wear suits and stand about’. It sounds like a great idea until you realise I’m just knocking on doors.”
DEVILCORP USA: An ex-devilcorp worker sheds light on the American operations
Devilcorp is an international phenomenon because its model is easy to export and emulate. When supercharged by American capitalism and sales culture, the result can be more extreme- and it may be starting to creep into UK devilcorp.
Referring to the US operations, Ben explains that firms focus on ‘afterhour bonding’ as much as the work day as a means to make them “the primary influence in your life” and workers less likely to leave.
"It’s supposed to be your entire world. It’s supposed to be the only way you can make money,” he said. “They want you to spend as much time with the team as possible.”
The aim is to prevent workers from getting ‘negged out’- an example of specialised jargon and loaded language employed by devilcorp. The term refers to a worker developing a negative mindset.
“The more time you spend with them, there’s less of a chance you want to leave.” Ben said, adding: “There’s a great chance you want to stay because you’ve developed a friendship with your fellow salespeople- or a relationship with one of them.”
“It’s your whole life and you don’t really have a world outside of that,” he said, also pointing to examples of marriages between devilcorp staffers.
CULT TACTICS: How US multilevel marketing firms employ manipulative tactics
Ultimately, Ben aims to propel the devilcorp term into the mainstream as a means to combat the business model.
When confronted, proponents of devilcorp companies are experienced in rebuking criticism.
“Say you describe it to them as a pyramid scheme or an MLM (multilevel marketing model), they’ve been taught how to refute those specific terms,’” Ben said. “The idea is to both make devilcorp synonymous with that business model, but also to make it as well known as the term pyramid scheme.”
By defining the business model as devilcorp and encouraging jobseekers to adopt it, he hopes to raise awareness so that it becomes impossible for these companies to recruit.
“Nobody’s paying me to do this,” he said, “My role is to then fight back against that and try to make this information as accessible as possible.
Misa's Story
Graduate Misa* (not her real name) 25, currently works at a company she alleges is a devilcorp firm. She joined the London based firm a couple of months ago after finding their job ad through Indeed but is now trying to find a new role.
When Misa accepted an ‘appointment’- what they called the interview- with the firm, she already knew the role was a self-employed position with a base fee and commissions but grew uneasy as she spoke with her future sales coach.
Misa said: “There were many questionable things and red flags during the interview- when the interviewer explained their company structure, their ‘amazing progress’ to become an owner and the working schedules.”
"Looking back, I wouldn’t take this job."
Despite her wariness, Misa didn’t walk away. “I still accepted the offer, just because I was really desperate for a job and needed some quick money,” she said, adding: “I graduated from a respectable university, and I couldn’t find a proper job.
“When I got the offer after I was unemployed for months, I was rejoiced,” she said. “But now, looking back, I wouldn’t take this job.”
The hours with the company are long, including six day weeks of six to eight hour days with additional hours of unpaid training.
The company’s London office is shared with a sister firm whose owner is the former mentor of Misa’s boss and the company has other sites across the country. She described it as: “toxic positivity, whiteboards everywhere, everyone wearing ill-fit suits.
“[They’re] always hiring people, and people just come and go.”
GOLDEN RULE: Misa has to knock on 120 doors a day. Photograph: Caleb Ching
GOLDEN RULE: Misa has to knock on 120 doors a day. Photograph: Caleb Ching
Whilst other teams are commission-only, Misa’s team does receive a base fee. “I am a bit lucky since I have a basic income of £80,” she said, adding: “The commission is around £5-10 per sign-up form.”
As Misa is registered as self-employed, she has to self-fund aspects of her job including a basic disclosure and barring service check, transport, and the iPads she uses at work needs to be rented.
The workplace culture also appears to draw from the high-pressure playbook ascribed to devilcorp firms.
“The hustle culture and making grand promises for workers is the norm, if not, encouraged here,” Misa said, adding: “Every Monday to Thursday, we listen to our managing director about how to maximise sales, mixing with life coaching and pick-up artist tactics.
“I notice the vast difference in terms of reactions between new-comers and the senior sales coaches, the former are half-believe and half-doubt, whilst the coaches are full-heartedly interested and believe.”
During training the coaches reinforce keywords such as “work ethic”, “student mentality" and “laws of average” prominently.
Alongside with sales results the company has ‘golden rules’ that determine performances of workers.
“They set a rigid KPI for new-comers like myself: you should have 120 doors per day, speak to 80-100 people.” Misa said, adding: “If you don’t reach the exact amount, your coach and sector leader will give you advice that you didn’t have the work ethic, positive attitude, student mentality, or all the above.”
ROUGH DEAL: Misa is not entitled to employee protections as her contract engages her as self-employed. Photograph: Caleb Ching
ROUGH DEAL: Misa is not entitled to employee protections as her contract engages her as self-employed. Photograph: Caleb Ching
“You can’t deny your coach's review, otherwise you’ll be seen as lacking a student mentality. Such tactics are manipulation and gaslighting- overly simplifying different situations and shoehorning their ‘winning method’ into every scenario.”
Her experience at the company has left Misa both “physically and mentally” exhausted and determined to leave.
She said: “I keep sending CVs, while working here, and pray that I can get out once I have the financial security that enables me to survive between jobs.”
*Name changed for anonymity
Is anything being done?
While the business practices of devilcorp firms have been alleged to be deceitful and immoral, unlike pyramid schemes, they are not illegal. Commission-only roles are legal provided workers are genuinely self-employed whilst engaged with a company.
However it can be illegal to place a misleading job advertisement. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the UK’s independent advertising regulator, encompassing all promotional content, including job advertisements.
Whilst the ASA does not have direct legal enforcement powers, it can refer cases to Trading Standards for investigation and possible prosecution.
BAD AD: A CASE STUDY
On 18 February 2026 the ASA published a ruling on a job ad placed on Indeed.com by Fusion17 Ltd for a trainee sales and marketing assistant with Surge International Ltd.
Surge International Ltd is a Manchester based direct sales and marketing company which was incorporated on 1 September 2025.
The ad listed the salary “from £24,687 a year” and described the role as permanent, graduate and full-time which the complainant later learned was inaccurate. The position was self-employed with a minimum weekly pay of £300.
Surge International Ltd stated that they had no knowledge of, or connection to, Fusion17 Ltd and were unaware of the ad. Fusion17 Ltd did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries.
Fusion17 Ltd was dissolved via compulsory strike-off on 31 March 2026.
The ASA upheld the complaint finding the ad in breach of multiple CAP (Committee of Advertising Practice) code rules including those on misleading advertising, employment and employment agencies and businesses.
Surge International Ltd and Fusion17 Ltd were instructed to ensure quoted earnings in future ads were precise and to be clear when income would be earned from basic salary and commission. Self-employment also had to be plainly indicated in future.
Is the Advertising Standards Authority taking action?
An ASA spokesperson said: “We understand that employer ‘puffery’ can and will happen. However, if the claims go beyond aspirational and subjectivity, just like any other ad, the employer/advertiser will have to ensure that they can back up their claims.
“If we investigate an ad and find it has broken our rules, the advertiser must withdraw or amend the advert. We also work closely with platforms such as Meta and Google, to have ads removed.”
Whilst the ASA does not possess statutory powers, it can refer uncooperative advertisers to Trading Standards for investigation and potential prosecution.
"If income is earned from a basic salary and commission, commission only or in some other way, that must be made clear."
The Committee of Advertising Practice Code is the rulebook for UK advertising and is enforced by the ASA. While The Code doesn't specify that details such as salary, working hours or location must be stated in job ads, their absence can contribute to Code breaches.
The spokeswoman said: "If the omission of any of this information is likely to mislead potential applicants, then it needs to be included.
“In 2017, we upheld a complaint about a domiciliary care service because they did not make clear that they only paid for ‘working hours’ – that is, not including the hours employees spent travelling from client to client.”
"Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so."
Firms rebranding through dissolution and incorporating new companies- or ‘phoenixing’- is a tactic the ASA is aware of and aims to negate.
“Our compliance team works with partners to restrict these companies' ability to advertise,” the spokesperson said, adding: “This includes issuing ad alerts to media owners and publishers, like job boards and search engines, instructing them to withhold services from the non-compliant entity.
“If a member of the public feels that they have seen a misleading job advert, or any advert they feel is misleading, then they should report their concerns to us and submit a complaint.”
PUFFERY: Job ads can be aspirational but not misleading. GIF: Caleb Ching/Alex Demidov/Pexels
PUFFERY: Job ads can be aspirational but not misleading. GIF: Caleb Ching/Alex Demidov/Pexels
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