Internet scams have been around since the dial-up days. And they have only become more complex and realistic as technology gets better. Now with AI becoming commonplace, it’s becoming downright scary what people can do with technology. If you are not careful, you could be a victim of a scam. It’s one of the big drawbacks of AI and technology. People use it for unethical and criminal purposes.
Unfortunately AI recruiter scams are becoming more common in 2024. Our Toronto recruiters have experienced these recruiter scams first-hand and we wanted to create awareness about this issue. Below Bruce Powell talks about what AI recruiter scams are, provides you with an example, and discusses prevention to reduce the odds of you falling prey to these scams.
AI Recruiter Scams Are On The Rise In 2024
The progress in AI has resulted in a surge of recruiter and job scams, creating a significant challenge for job seekers trying to discern genuine opportunities from fraudulent ones. Chatbots and generative AI have significantly enhanced the capabilities of scammers, enabling them to explore new realms of highly personalized, context-aware deception, particularly targeting individuals in search of employment. Many people are now inundated with daily emails and instant messages from numerous sources claiming to be something they are not.
What are AI recruiter scams?
Recruiting scams occur when entities pretend to be legitimate recruiters interested in you as a candidate for a job (that doesn’t exist). They typically act using the names of existing recruitment agencies. They will cold contact you via email or instant message. They can appear legitimate because they have used AI to collect publicly available information about you. The goal of the scam is to collect additional personal data from you that can be used to create a profile which can be used for identity theft or to sell your vulnerable information for exploitation.
An example of AI recruiter scams
IQ PARTNERS is well aware of recruiter scams. It happens to us. We’ve had people impersonate us and attempt to contact people. A common scam going around is scammers pretending to be “Alice Hawkins of TalentWorld.” There have been instances of this same “Alice Hawkins” pretending to be from IQ PARTNERS.
If you receive this message, please do not reply. If you are not sure, contact IQ PARTNERS directly to follow up.
Here is a screenshot from the subreddit r/scambait.
You can learn more about this scam on Reddit
What are the signs of recruiter scams?
Here are 10 signs of a potential AI recruiting scam:
- The opportunity seems too good to be true.
- They request payment. Candidates should not pay recruiters in any situation.
- They request personal information and other information that is not relevant to a job.
- The salary is too good to be true.
- Unprofessional and poor communication – there are spelling and grammar errors.
- They are unnecessarily pushy or aggressive.
- Job descriptions are vague.
- There is no contact information (professional email, website, phone numbers).
- They are not willing to speak on the phone or in person.
- The job post does not exist on a company website or job boards online.
If you suspect any of the above, process with caution. Do your research and look into the recruiter and the company.
How do you prevent future scamming attempts?
Scams will continue to become more realistic. So, you need to be cautious and protect your personal information. Here are some ways to prevent future scam attempts:
- Never give banking or personal details to anyone you don’t know or trust.
- Be careful when clicking on links in an email.
- If you are not sure, go to the source directly – contact the recruiter
- Don’t just rely on glowing testimonials. Do your research.
- If something doesn’t seem right, it probably is a scam. Proceed with caution.
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