News: 0176979301

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Fake Job Seekers Are Flooding US Companies (cnbc.com)

(Wednesday April 09, 2025 @05:15AM (msmash) from the closer-look dept.)


Fake job seekers using AI tools to impersonate candidates are [1]increasingly targeting U.S. companies with remote positions , creating a growing security threat across industries. By 2028, one in four global job applicants will be fake, according to Gartner. These imposters use AI to fabricate photo IDs, generate employment histories, and provide interview answers, often targeting cybersecurity and cryptocurrency firms, CNBC reports.

Once hired, fraudulent employees can install malware to demand ransoms, steal customer data, or simply collect salaries they wouldn't otherwise obtain, according to Vijay Balasubramaniyan, CEO of Pindrop Security. The problem extends beyond tech companies. Last year, the Justice Department alleged more than 300 U.S. firms inadvertently hired impostors with ties to North Korea, including major corporations across various sectors.



[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/08/fake-job-seekers-use-ai-to-interview-for-remote-jobs-tech-ceos-say.html



fake applicants for fake jobs (Score:5, Insightful)

by algaeman ( 600564 )

Maybe HR can give all the fake job listings to these fake applicants.

Re: (Score:2)

by jhoegl ( 638955 )

Its a fake off!

What's good for the goose... (Score:5, Insightful)

by Gravis Zero ( 934156 )

Nobody seemed to mind when companies did this to potential workers. I'm sure they'll just bear with it and understand that "it's just how the world works now," like they told me.

Re: (Score:3)

by Tablizer ( 95088 )

[1]Bots hiring bots, how perverse! [youtube.com]

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr9s6-tuppI

Re: (Score:2)

by larryjoe ( 135075 )

> Nobody seemed to mind when companies did this to potential workers. I'm sure they'll just bear with it and understand that "it's just how the world works now," like they told me.

If the fake applicants simply ghosted the companies, no one would be talking about this. It's the malware and security vulnerabilities that are the problem. If companies posted fake job openings with the intent to attack applicants, that would be a similar thing and would be a big story.

Oh how the turns have tabled (Score:3)

by RyoShin ( 610051 )

Can't say I sympathize much, since companies have been posting [1]fake job listings [cnbc.com]:

> Four in 10 companies posted fake job listings in 2024, and three in 10 are currently advertising for a role that is not real, according to a May survey from Resume Builder.

I wonder if the phrase "real knows real" has a counterpart "fake knows fake"...

[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/22/ghost-jobs-why-fake-job-listings-are-on-the-rise.html

Two AIs walk into a bar... (Score:5, Funny)

by glowworm ( 880177 )

Two AIs walk into a bar. First one says "I applied for 500 jobs today". The second one replies "That's nothing -- I created 500 jobs today" They both toast to their fictional employment histories as the human recruiter in the corner weeps, sorting through thousands of perfect resumes for positions that were never real.

Fake students (Score:2)

by Hoi Polloi ( 522990 )

I was just reading how fake students are flooding community colleges in CA to scam them out of financial assistance money.

Re: (Score:2)

by OrangeTide ( 124937 )

Good luck with that. My buddy is on a FA program in CA. They pay a fixed rate for tuition directly to the college, and he still owes the difference plus some weird sounding insurance.

Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

by geekmux ( 1040042 )

> I was just reading how fake students are flooding community colleges in CA to scam them out of financial assistance money.

If your accounting processes are THAT fucked when your product is a human graduate, then you probably deserve every scam coming to you,

Then again, this is an institute of higher learning in liberal America. That itself, has become the scam.

Meet someone in person? (Score:4, Insightful)

by Njovich ( 553857 )

I don't get why they don't just meet somone in person before hiring. Even without any AI you can thoroughly fake a remote interview. You can do that in person too (by sending a different person), but there is more risk involved for the individual. Especially if you do ID checks.

Why not meet them in person? Too much work. (Score:2)

by zooblethorpe ( 686757 )

> I don't get why they don't just meet somone in person before hiring.

That would require, like, actual work . Ew.

Seriously though, HR departments at major companies have been striving for decades now to automate as much as possible and do (apparently) "sod tout" when it comes to actual in-person HR work. Actually meeting candidates in person would potentially require additional HR staff, as well as backtracking on years and years of earnest effort at "savings" for the C-suite types.

Re: (Score:3)

by geekmux ( 1040042 )

>> I don't get why they don't just meet somone in person before hiring.

> That would require, like, actual work . Ew.

> Seriously though, HR departments at major companies have been striving for decades now to automate as much as possible and do (apparently) "sod tout" when it comes to actual in-person HR work. Actually meeting candidates in person would potentially require additional HR staff, as well as backtracking on years and years of earnest effort at "savings" for the C-suite types.

Why still call it Human Resources then? The company lawyer knows exactly why they have a corporate job. HR is quickly being reduced to that level of necessity in business. Sounds like they are now on the payroll for legal reasons/mandates only too.

Which ironically means they’ll be replaced by AI sooner than they assume pulling that hands-off shit. When HR reduces their interaction, they directly reduce their justification to exist. The FUCK do I need them for.

Re: (Score:3)

by geekmux ( 1040042 )

> I don't get why they don't just meet somone in person before hiring.

Guess that depends on the age of HR and hiring.

(I mean the literal age of those running HR and hiring.)

It would appear the Introvert Generation is earning their moniker in spades. Texting and email are the preferred methods of pseudo-communication now. Talking on a phone has become that thing older generations can do without a prescription.

Re: (Score:3)

by dohzer ( 867770 )

> I don't get why they don't just meet somone in person before hiring.

Hold up. Are you actually suggesting that an employee be forced to come into the office, even for only one interview? All right guys, you know the drill. Mod parent down to hell.

Re: (Score:2)

by ZiggyZiggyZig ( 5490070 )

As a prospective employee, I'd definitely want to go to an in-person interview in the company, even for a full-remote position. You know, just to make sure the company is not fake...

Re: (Score:2)

by DrXym ( 126579 )

That would be the sensible thing - the minimal amount of due diligence an organisation can do before hiring somebody is meet them and verify who they are. Maybe that interview happens in a satellite office, or in the presence of a trusted intermediary in their home country like a public notary. But at least some effort.

Fair (Score:2)

by ledow ( 319597 )

Okay, I shall say this again.

If you want to hire without fear of discrimination, then you should do this:

People submit their application, they are edited by HR to remove age, gender, etc. and you select for interview by a blind panel who just go from the edited applications.

When it comes time to interview, you SEND YOUR HR PERSON to the other person. If that means flying them out or driving out to them... do so. They can then do their usual paperwork, identification checks, etc. and also account for anyth

Take that AI recruiters ... (Score:1)

by MxMatrix ( 1303567 )

... for your lazyness not to actually comnunicate with real people.

I hear Shopify are hiring. (Score:2)

by greytree ( 7124971 )

I hear Shopify are hiring.

Just sayin'.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/04/08/1518213/shopify-ceo-says-staffers-need-to-prove-jobs-cant-be-done-by-ai-before-asking-for-more-headcount

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