Manage HR Magazine | Monday, October 10, 2022
The jobs applied to by these scammers included IT, computer programming, database and software-related roles – some of which would have given access to sensitive customer information, financial data or corporate databases.
FREMONT, CA: When the FBI disclosed last summer that job candidates were using deep fakes and stolen information to apply for remote employment under assumed names, it sounded like something out of BBC's The Capture, but it wasn't fiction. These con artists applied for positions in the IT, computer programming, database, and software industries, some of which required access to private client information, financial information, or company databases.
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The rise of remote and international recruiting offered several advantages, including access to a much larger talent pool, but they also posed some novel and uncharted hazards. Job-fishing is a phrase I use to describe schemes in which, similar to catfishing, a person creates a false identity to deceive others, in this case, to get work. Employers recruiting nowadays must be aware of this threat.
One form of this tendency involves hiring a stand-in to attend the interview on the candidate's behalf when they are unqualified, only for the genuine candidate to show up on the first day. Insider, which recently covered this topic, claims that the increase in work-from-home culture and foreign employment is to blame for the scam's increased prevalence.
The tech sector is particularly susceptible to these tendencies since it was the most ardent adopter of remote working. Data from the employment company Hays shows that 42 per cent of UK tech companies now offer entirely remote positions, compared to 67 per cent of UK employers overall.
Companies can safeguard themselves against even the most sophisticated applicant frauds by implementing a few straightforward but effective steps. This will also establish that a candidate is who they claim to be and is qualified for the position.
Proper ID checks should be a crucial component of the hiring process. This can be done manually or automatically, although the latter is significantly more reliable because it uses biometric scanning technology to identify even the most elusive signs of tampering.
ID checks can be strengthened by social media screening, which shows whether a potential employee maintains a consistent online presence across many platforms.
Verifying an applicant's career history and academic achievements is also essential to ensure they possess the qualifications for the post.
It could be more difficult to identify bogus degrees provided by diploma mills if the candidate is from abroad and has credentials from an unfamiliar institution. Veremark data show that last year, tech job applicants were most likely to fail background checks because of inconsistencies in their academic credentials, suggesting that this should be a major area of concern.
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