Job scams involving fake recruiters that are promoting ghost job postings jumped 37% in the first three quarters of 2025 — and in 2023, these job-related scams cost Americans over $500 million. This is obviously a problem for job seekers who are increasingly concerned about whether jobs are legitimate when job hunting online. The other side of the issue causes pain for recruiters from companies of all sizes who are actively trying to source and recruit talent and reach candidates as they navigate determining which inquiries are real and which are scams.
How does this issue get fixed? Applicants, of course, need to do their share. They have to make moves to protect themselves from scams of all types and avoid job-related cons that pitch amazing opportunities in exchange for money or personal information. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is circulating resources to help spot job scams. LinkedIn, Indeed and ZipRecruiter are stepping up to the plate too, helping to bring clarity to job seekers. LinkedIn has implemented Clear as a way to verify recruiters and job seekers, creating a safer marketplace and raising the level of trust across the board. These job board vendors are continually updating their fraud detection systems to block fake profiles and scams, but despite these measures, scammers create fake, high-salary, or remote listings to steal personal information (SSN, bank details) or money.
To isolate the data from the FTC on the last available quarter (Q3 2025), there was a 60% year over year increase in reported job scam claims when compared to Q3 2024. Based on experience, thousands more claims go unreported, given there is a level of shame and despair that goes along with falling prey to these types of nefarious actions. Job seekers must verify that it is a real opening on the company’s career site when they get a sense that something is amiss.
Recruiters themselves – and the employers they work for – can play an important role in preventing these types of fraudulent activities as well.
Strengthening trust across the hiring journey
Here are some ways recruiters and companies can break down barriers.
- Don’t assume trust. Earn it. Show job seekers you’re legit and above board at all times. Recruit only from official company email addresses, never from personal email for initial outreach. Always link directly to official job postings on the company’s careers page. And always use a fully built-out LinkedIn profile with real employment history, tenure, and connections.
- Don’t cut corners. Scams target users who are in a hurry to get hired. Scammers push and prod, promising to move offers along if users forward sensitive information – Social Security Numbers, financial information, copies of IDs, and background check details, for starters. Be clear and diligent about the hiring process at your organization, and if possible, even share an “about the hiring process at Company X” from your career site as a way to validate that your requests are legitimate and part of the regular steps to becoming an employee. It’s ok to show urgency, but play it smart and respect the candidate by moving at their pace.
- Be transparent. High-pressure scammers in any forum rely on urgency, secrecy, or vague steps to lure targets into making a quick decision. Recruiters can differentiate themselves by taking their time and clearly explaining the steps that will happen in the hiring process and the steps that won’t. Know that you and your organization are the source of truth for any job seeker interested in joining your organization. Share your LinkedIn profile and your corporate email. Make sure you are guiding the job seeker to the official social media accounts of your company.
- Educate, educate, educate. Recruiters are often the first contact a job seeker makes, so they can serve as a valuable resource for reducing the stress job seekers face when they have anxiety about scams. They can explain how scammers operate and what to watch for. Even if the person doesn’t decide to join their organization, they can make an impact and educate the job seeker on what red flags to look out for. Even this small gesture can have a positive impact on the perception of the recruiter and the organization.
Unlocking value with the right tools
Today’s job search engines serve as the second generation of online job boards, and they have made the process of finding each other easier than job boards of yesteryear (i.e. Monster, CareerBuilder, etc.) for both recruiters and job seekers. From a recruiter’s perspective, there are many tools available to search and aggregate resumes at massive scale. There have also been significant and impressive investments in the way these tools leverage AI in recruiting to match, score, and communicate with candidates. These solutions have done their part to reduce friction in the application process, save recruiters thousands of hours of labor, and accelerate the overall hiring process.
The unfortunate part is that all of these same tools are available to the scammers and agents of fraudulent behavior, so what can help the real recruiters stand out? Today, recruiters also need tools that allow them to showcase their authenticity and legitimacy so they can be a clear beacon in the marketplace. Recruiters aren’t robots; they’re people with amazing skill sets and creative ideas to help educate and sell candidates on why they should consider taking a job within their organization. They have the patience and thoughtfulness to help a job seeker think about their potential career trajectory. They are gifted salespeople and wonderful ambassadors for their respective employers. They need tools that help them build more authentic relationships with job seekers at a time when scammers are preying on seekers’ desires for quick-fix solutions in what is turning out to be a tougher economy
What do these modern, more “human-centric” tools look like?
There is an opportunity for recruiters to use tools that allow them to be their authentic selves while also building their employer’s brand in the marketplace, and these types of tools go beyond chatbots and AI. Recruiters can leverage a solid one-two punch of tools like JobPixel and Recruiter Hub to showcase the best version of themselves to the marketplace. This allows them to showcase the positives of working with them and their organization for jobseekers in a professional manner while creating a safe space so the job seeker can feel confident they are dealing with the real recruiters and avoiding scam artists.
Recruiter Hub provides each recruiter with a customized and dedicated landing page that they can use as a part of their overall messaging and sourcing efforts. This page is tied to their specific requisitions and leads candidates directly to the applicant tracking system (ATS), serving as the source of truth for the employer’s jobs and giving the candidate a high degree of confidence that the recruiter and the jobs are not a scam since they are on the employer’s domain. In addition, recruiters can leverage videos from a vendor like JobPixel to deliver authentic content and create a way for candidates to feel connected to the recruiter and the company they work for.
Recruiters need to stand out from each other and even from colleagues at the same company. Giving each recruiter their own page, where they can sync personal stories, pictures, and social posts with established brand standards, can create a way to promote individuality and build an employer brand and lead to better connections.
Moving quickly should be a priority, as well. In a fast-moving job market, where employer needs evolve, and position descriptions are constantly in flux, recruiters need to have the ability to change content on a dime. Knowing that the site has up-to-date jobs and a real human behind the job opening builds trust and confidence.
Reimaging human-centric recruiting in a tech-forward future
With job scams growing more sophisticated, trust becomes the defining currency in the hiring process. Human-centric recruiting tools empower recruiters to show up authentically, move quickly, and build real relationships, while giving candidates confidence that there is a knowledgeable professional behind every opportunity. As we continue further into the automation era, the ability to humanize hiring may be the most powerful differentiator recruiters have.
