Generative AI (genAI) tools — especially those like OpenAI’s ChatGPT — are being used by many job seekers to enhance, exaggerate, or outright fabricate parts of their resumes, cover letters, or even responses during job interviews. “We’re seeing this a lot with our tech hires, and a lot of the sentence structure and overuse of buzzwords is making it super obvious,” said Joel Wolfe, president of HiredSupport, a California-based business process outsourcing (BPO) company. HiredSupport has more than 100 corporate clients globally, including companies in the eCommerce, SaaS, healthcare, and fintech sectors. Wolfe, who weighed in on the topic on LinkedIn, said he’s seeing AI-enhanced resumes “across all roles and positions, but most obvious in overembellished developer roles.” Cliff Jurkiewicz, vice president of Global Strategy at Phenom, an HR technology vendor, said he’s also seeing a rise in fraud during job applications and interviews. “It is definitely something we have seen for a while, but are seeing a lot more of [now],” Jurkiewicz said. Candidates are even turning to tools like ChatGPT during live remote or recorded video interviews — sometimes reading answers off a second screen fed by an AI assistant. In some cases, it’s not even the real applicant being interviewed, but someone more qualified standing in. “This is happening globally and across industries, with the goal of getting a more capable person to pass the interview while someone else shows up for the job,” Jurkiewicz said. “Clients report that 10% to 30% of interviews — especially for roles like engineering — involve some level of fraud.” Workers admit exaggerating their skills A 2023 survey by UK-based StandOut CV, a resume writing service, found that 73% of US workers would consider using AI to embellish or lie on their resumes — and that was before genAI tools had become as common as they are now. The survey also showed that nearly two-thirds of respondents (64.2%) said they’d lied on their resume at least once. Conversely, only one-in-five said they’d not been caught lying on their resumes. In a separate survey by Resume Builder, 45% of respondents said they exaggerated their skills with AI tools during the hiring process: 32% lied about skills on their resumes and 30% lied during the interview process. In general, employers generally say they don’t have a problem with applicants using genAI tools to write a resume, as long as it accurately represents a candidate’s qualifications and experience. ZipRecruiter, an online employment marketplace, said 67% of 800 employers surveyed reported they are open to candidates using genAI to help write their resumes, cover letters, and applications, according to its Q4 2024 Employer Report. Companies, however, face a growing threat from fake job seekers using AI to forge IDs, resumes, and interview responses. By 2028, a quarter of job candidates could be fake, according to Gartner Research. Once hired, impostors can then steal data, money, or install ransomware. For example, North Korean IT workers are reportedly flooding tech companies with fake resumes and often use names that sound American, such as Mike Smith or Thomas Williams. The North Koreans utilize stolen American identities, often obtained through dark web marketplaces, and employ VPNs to mask their true locations. In some instances, they manipulate session history files and transfer potentially harmful files to company systems. These “workers” are typically based in countries like China and Russia to avoid detection. In January, the US Department of Justice indicted five people involved in facilitating this operation. The Justice Department has also seized $1.5 million and 17 domain names linked to these activities. The FBI and other agencies continue to monitor and disrupt such schemes. Legitimate IT job applicants might be more confident using genAI technology as AI coding tools become more common. Gartner predicts 70% of developers will use them by 2027, up from less than 10% in 2023. Two sides of the genAI coin Emi Chiba, a senior principal analyst in the Gartner Human Resources practice, said genAI makes it easy to create tailored content, so many job candidates use it for resumes and cover letters. “At this point I would assume the majority of candidates are submitting applications augmented by AI,” Chiba said. “I’ve spoken to organizations who also noticed candidates using it during interviews or assessments where the candidate may read an answer generated by AI, or use it to help craft an answer.” Some candidates use AI deepfakes — changing their voice or appearance — to hide their identity, location, or so someone else can do the interview for them, Chiba said. “This happened to me personally,” Jurkiewicz said. “We hired someone in Texas who was secretly outsourcing the work overseas for a fraction of her pay.” The counterfeit employee was repeating the deceptive practice with four employers at once, earning $300,000 to $500,000 a year while doing almost no work herself, Jurkiewicz said. “It was purely a money grab, and with little to no consequences; there’s no real deterrent,” he said. “That’s why we need better tech to detect this kind of fraud.” GenAI, Jurkiewicz said, is both a problem and a solution. It helps screen applicants, and can also detect fraud. The company recently announced it would be launching a built-in AI agent for spotting deepfakes around May or June. Fake candidates make it harder for qualified workers Another downside to the growing flood of AI deep fake applicants is that it affects “real” job applicants’ chances of being hired. “What if you are getting passed over for jobs by ‘fake’ candidates?” Jurkiewicz said. “There’s an interesting dilemma.” Job applicants who fake their credentials will in all likelihood eventually be uncovered and fired, Jurkiewicz said — but by then they’ve accomplished their goal. “It’s a numbers game: people submit hundreds of applications, hoping some will slip through undetected. Even if only a few succeed, that’s enough to exploit the system,” he said. After working three, four or six months, the fake employee leaves with the pay he or she has earned, and moves onto the next employer, Jurkiewicz said. The financial impact can be huge. The US Department of Labor says a bad hire can cost 30% of their first-year salary, with some HR firms estimating losses between $240,000 and $850,000 per fake employee. “Now, imagine the cost of hiring a fake candidate,” Jurkiewicz said. “They go through training, do all this orientation. You’re three months getting paid, and let’s say you do that across the board for 100 different employers, because you built this fraudulent network. You’re making a lot of money before they detect it.”