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The Candidate Fraud Crisis: Securing Real Talent in the Face of Rising Fakes

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Top talent is in high demand. Candidate fraud is making it harder to find, and hire, truly skilled applicants. It’s also creating operational challenges ranging from productivity roadblocks to critical security vulnerabilities. To reduce risk and increase hiring success, today’s organizations must recognize and proactively halt fake job applicants in their tracks. 

What is Candidate Fraud? 

Candidate fraud is defined as the intentional misrepresentation of experience, qualifications, knowledge, and even identity during the application and interview process. It’s not new, but it’s accelerating, spurred by our modern work reality. 

In fact, candidate fraud has quickly become a top hiring concern for recruiters, HR, and hiring managers.

The current IT job market is already challenging: layoffs, hiring freezes, talent shortages, and economic uncertainty are working in lockstep to create a scenario where every role must deliver ROI, and every new hire decision is weighed against tight budgets and impact on the bottom line. Candidate fraud is making it harder.

At a minimum, it leads to wasted investment on inexperienced hires that negatively impact productivity and profitability. At its most dire, it can put bad actors in a prime position to sabotage a company, its reputation, and in some cases national security.

Let’s take a deeper look at how and why candidate fraud is gaining ground, common types of fraud, tips to protect yourself during the hiring process, and how it’s shaping up to impact 2026 recruiting.

What You’ll Learn About Candidate Fraud & Fake Job Applicants:

Rising Candidate Fraud and the Drivers Behind It

If it seems like you’ve been hearing more about fake job applicants these past months, you’d be right. One of the biggest news makers was the case of a cybersecurity firm inadvertently hiring a North Korean IT worker who then attempted to deploy malware. This is just one example. There’s been a 220% rise in incidents of North Koreans gaining fraudulent Western company employment just in the past year.

THE GREAT FAKE-OUT: AN ESCALATING ISSUE

It’s not just high-profile incidents on the rise. Candidate fraud (in all forms) is becoming prevalent for all companies across the globe:

  • 41% of contingent workforce management professionals in the Americas have reported experiencing challenges with candidate validation and fraud.
  • A poll of 250 HR executives and professionals found that 71% have encountered fabricated or misleading candidate information in the hiring process, yet only 20% are very confident in detecting it.
  • Gartner forecasts that one in four applications worldwide could be fraudulent by 2028.
  • 17% of U.S. hiring managers have encountered deepfakes.
  • 60% of large firms report candidate fraud issues.
  • In a survey of 3,000 candidates, 6% admitted to fraud such as impersonation.

MODERN WORK REALITIES DRIVING FAKE JOB CANDIDATES 

It’s never been easier for candidates to fake resumes, credentials, or entire personas. Recent transformations in the way we work are fueling this rising phenomenon.

  • Talent shortage. Digital transformation remains a top priority. Yet, 60% of companies cite scarcity of tech talent and skills as a key inhibitor of digital transformation. Employing quality IT talent has become a competitive differentiator. But the pressure to quickly onboard technology experts can create missed cues and overlooked red flags leading to fraudulent candidate hires.
  • AI. For better or for worse, AI is permanently embedded in the recruiting process. This has created a perfect storm of “AI hiring AI,” where AI-generated resumes tailored to exactly match job postings are making it through AI-infused ATS platforms trained to look for keywords vs. the people behind them. It’s not surprising that 76% of hiring managers believe AI makes it harder to assess whether candidates are authentic. 
  • Remote & hybrid work. The pandemic forever changed how we work. Despite (or perhaps because of) a recent upswing in return-to-office mandates, LinkedIn’s smaller amount (roughly 20%) of postings for remote/hybrid jobs are getting 60% of all applications. It’s here that candidate fraud is most problematic. With geographic work constraints erased, overreliance on digital communication makes it easier than ever for “applicants” across the globe to fudge skills, experience, and entire identities. 


The technology industry faces the highest risk, with 65% of hiring professionals identifying it as the most vulnerable sector for AI-driven job fraud. “From what we’re seeing here at Cypress, tech is one of the sectors hardest hit by the acceleration of candidate fraud, with those hiring remote engineers being particularly vulnerable”- Bailey Lempke, Account Executive

3 Examples of Candidate Fraud

To increase your odds of hiring real talent, you need to understand what forms candidate fraud can take, and how to recognize imposters before they become a problem.

EXAMPLE 1: IMPERSONATION 

This is one of the biggest issues we’re hearing about from clients, and it can have the most severe consequences.

Impersonation can refer to a real person impersonating another real person, or a deepfake impersonating a real person. A few examples:

  • Someone outright stealing an identity and posing as that identity throughout the application and interview process
  • A different person showing up for a job than the person who interviewed and accepted the position.
  • A person who interviews for and accepts a job uses someone else to perform the actual work (in essence subcontracting out their role).

EXAMPLE 2: FABRICATION

This type of candidate fraud is the most common: data within the last two years indicates as many as 70% of workers have or would lie on their resume.

These lies show up in a number of ways, from padded qualifications with inflated skills and doctored roles and responsibilities, to outright false claims of earned degrees, job experience, industry experience, and professional background. It even extends to fake references. While this type of deception might seem the least detrimental, it’s best to not make a habit of giving white lies a pass. It sends the signal that you’re an easy target, especially if bad actors “test the waters” with more realistic candidates first.

EXAMPLE 3: CHEATING

This is exactly like it sounds. Using AI (or another person) to help with “take home” assessments and live video or phone interviews. This includes:

  • Running AI in the background during an interview, and reading back the answers it supplies
  • Feeding tests, quizzes, or other skills assessments into AI and using its responses to complete the task
  • Using an earpiece during an interview to have responses fed to you by another person or an AI program in real time

This issue is especially problematic within recruiting for software and coding roles, where using AI to cheat at some point during the testing process is becoming the norm rather than the exception. 

Detecting Candidate Fraud: 6 Tips For Weeding Out Fake Job Applicants

1) Be suspicious of missing information.
Be wary of vague responses, a reluctance to share identifying information or information that can substantiate a claim, and answers that deflect from the original question or completely ignore it in the first place.

2) Fight technology with technology.

Yes, today’s advanced AI tools make it easier to commit candidate fraud. But today’s advanced AI detection tools are equally as powerful. From ID matching to location verification to AI-assisted deepfake detectors, embrace technology that adds real-time safeguards to your hiring process. 

3) Double and triple check.

The pressure is on to hire top talent fast. But cutting corners during research and vetting can have dire repercussions. Take the time to be thorough, going the extra mile during background and reference checks before an interview ever takes place. A multilayered approach to vetting personal and professional history is a strong way to help defend against impersonation and candidate deception. In fact, 54% of hiring pros support stricter credential or background verification, 39% back third-party video ID verification, and 39% back on-camera authenticity checks.

4) Be “old school.” 

Progress cannot come at the expense of due diligence. One way to counteract digitally based fraud is to return to analog interviewing roots. Consider saving skills tests and other assessments for actual in-person encounters, like the 65% of hiring professionals who would back the implementation of mandatory “live-only” interviews as a verification measure for candidate identities.

5) Embrace ongoing training. 

As candidates and bad actors get more sophisticated in using AI to game the system, companies must remain equally adept at recognizing it. Consider creating a regular cadence of employee training opportunities to help recruiters and staff better recognize suspicious candidate behaviors and actions, as well as understand evolving fraud trends impacting hiring processes as a whole.

6) Lean on a staffing partner.

This is your secret weapon in the fight against fraud. The right staffing partner combines highly experienced recruiters trained in the detection of bad actors with advanced screening techniques to offer 100% pre-vetted onshore talent faster and at a reduced risk. 

Looking Ahead: How Candidate Fraud Will Shape Recruiting in 2026

Fraud, and the use of AI, will remain a top recruiting issue in the coming year.

EMERGING TRENDS

Within the industry, HR and recruiting professionals are still in the early stages of determining the best way to get ahead of this issue, and the potential impact if they don’t (e.g., Regulatory fines? A system shut down from ransomware? Loss of market share? Accelerated turnover?)

Given that remote tech positions are most vulnerable to candidate fraud, one potential shift could be to reinstate a return-to-office policy, with no hybrid or remote option. However, this would increase overhead costs and drastically shrink talent pools. Unsurprisingly, this option continues to receive pushback.

Another shift could be the emergence of fraud-specific recruiting roles, where companies invest in specific functions dedicated entirely to assessing the risk and likelihood of candidate fraud occurring, as well as developing safeguards against it and recovery plans for it. 

Those not in a position to create new roles may opt to revamp their existing hiring process. Here, caution should be exercised to avoid an overcorrection toward highly rigid screening protocols that increase recruiting costs without providing any measurable gains.

EVOLVING TRUST

With continued debate over the use of AI in hiring, there remains one constant: a lack of trust on both sides.

Organizations continue to grapple with AI mistrust from a candidate use perspective. Case in point: 57% of hiring managers are significantly less likely to hire an applicant who has used AI. 

However, candidates likewise struggle with AI mistrust from an employer perspective:

The takeaway? Trust can be tricky in these tech-dependent times, which is all the more reason to go back to an emphasis on human-human connection, especially within the hiring process. If you’re equipped with the right approach and the right tools, recruiting success is possible from both sides of the table. 

The Candidate Fraud Dilemma: A Summary

AI holds the promise to elevate, accelerate, and simplify the hiring lifecycle. It also makes it easier for applicants to engage in candidate fraud.

As remote and hybrid work remain prominent within work culture, organizations will need to step up their ability to detect, and counteract, fake job applicants. This includes recognizing the most common types of candidate fraud–impersonation, fabrication, and cheating–as well as enacting measures to both prevent and respond to bad actors infiltrating company ranks.

A combination of modern technology and old school, one-on-one processes creates the best chance of overcoming increasing incidents of candidate fraud while at the same time ensuring top talent and skilled candidates make it through to interviews and, ultimately, on to your team.

Fraud-Proof Your Workforce with Cypress

Whether you’re rethinking your candidate mix to help “fraud-proof” your workforce, or you’re looking to reinforce your detection efforts with another layer of support, Cypress is here to help.

Our experienced team of recruiters is trained to identify anomalies across every hiring touchpoint. We’re committed to increasing your odds of a successful hire the first time. Every time.

Reach out to us today.

FAQs

Q: What is candidate fraud?

A: Candidate fraud is defined as the intentional misrepresentation of experience, qualifications, knowledge, and even identity during the application and interview process.

Q: What are the most common types of candidate fraud?

A: The most common types of candidate fraud are impersonation, where another person or an AI-generated deepfake impersonates a candidate, fabrication,where lies and embellishments are shared in resumes and during interviews, and cheating, where individuals use AI or another person to supply interview answers, take tests, and even do their work post-hire.

Q: How do you address candidate fraud?

A: You can address candidate fraud in a number of ways. Use AI detection tools to instances of fraud throughout the hiring process. Use a multi-layered approach to candidate vetting and verification. Conduct in-person interviews and assessments instead of virtual options. Reconsider remote and hybrid work policies.