Ever wondered how much James Bond gets paid to whirl around the world killing enemies of the British state, in between motorbike chases and train-top fisticuffs? An advert on Friday on the directgov website – used for government recruitment – seeking a "target elimination specialist" might have let slip the answer: £50,000-£60,000, with "performance bonuses on completion of missions". Whether that involves trips to casinos, or money for the restoration of Scottish ruins, isn't specified.

"From time to time the UK government has a need to remove people whose continued existence poses a risk to the effective conduct of public order," begins the advert, claiming to be placed by the Secret Intelligence Service – aka MI6. "So we require particularly skilled professionals who are prepare to work on a non-attributable basis to deal with these problems."

Fake? Except that at a time when MI6 really does take out full-page recruitment adverts in magazines such as the Economist, where on page 25 this week it says, a trifle ungrammatically, "If the qualities that make a good spy were obvious, they wouldn't make a very good spy", one could suspect that this was a clever game of double-bluff. Perhaps it's meant to look like a fake job because it's actually trying to find the new double-O agents – until, that is, you come to the bit where it says that "the job holder will receive all necessary equipment, including passports, special watches, jet packs, mini-submarines and a Walther PPK."

It adds that the job is "particularly appropriate for those who like their martinis shaken and not stirred." And where should you apply? "Somewhere in the vicinity of the rather fake-looking rock in Regent's Park."

The trivia at least narrows down the list of potential creators of the faked job – investigators won't need to be from GCHQ, MI6 or MI5 to know it is someone who watched the older Bond films but not the new ones (and certainly not the latest, Skyfall, which steered away from gadgets like jet packs and submarines). Suspicion will duly fall on any civil servant over about 45 with access to the directgov website.

But while the job advert itself is fake, MI6 recruitment is real - though as the advert in the Economist suggests, you might have to mix your own martinis: "What about the image of the globe-trotting secret agent, rushing abroad at a moment's notice?" it asks. "Certainly we're an organisation with an overseas focus, so that does happen sometimes," it admits, cleverly hiding more than it reveals. "But while we actively seek people with an interest in global affairs, many operational jobs are in our London HQ and fit well with family life."

Somehow, target elimination specialist sounds a lot more fun.