AI, Layoffs Fuel Surge in Job Scams By John P. Mello Jr. April 22, 2025 5:00 AM PT ADVERTISEMENT Proven Customer Acquisition Strategies for SMB Software Firms Discover proven tactics for scaling products, winning customers, and staying ahead. Get your free copy of the SMB Software Playbook for Expansion & Growth. Download Today. The times couldn’t be better for job scammers. Layoffs in the tech and public sectors, coupled with the malicious use of artificial intelligence, are fueling strong growth in fraud aimed at job seekers. Scams aimed at job seekers can come in a variety of forms, among them: Hire and Fire Scams — where a job seeker is quickly hired, works, and is fired before collecting a paycheck. Fake Recruiters — where a fraudster harvests sensitive information from a job seeker as part of the application process. Pay-to-Work Offers — where job seekers are told they’ve been hired, but they have to first make some upfront payments for training or equipment. “Asking for money or asking you to purchase something with the promise of a reimbursement is a scam that has been around for a long time,” said Julia Toothacre, chief career strategist at Resume Templates. “These are companies that appear legitimate and sometimes even have a website, but their purpose is to scam people out of money,” she told TechNewsWorld. “Job seekers need to be on their toes when it comes to scams,” she added. “If it feels too good to be true, it probably is.” Robust Scam Economy Growth in job scams isn’t surprising since scam activity has been generally growing globally. “The scam economy is blowing up. In some parts of the world, it’s up 3000% year-over-year,” declared Joshua McKenty, CEO and co-founder of Polyguard, provider of a solution for defending against deepfakes and AI fraud, in New York City. Job seekers in volatile labor markets will attract scammers, he continued. “When we’ve seen big waves of layoffs in tech, especially, then scamming for workers becomes really attractive because there are lots of job seekers to target,” he told TechNewsWorld. “The same is true when hiring starts to pick up again,” he said. “A lot of hiring means a lot of targets.” He explained that AI is also contributing to job scam growth. “All of the scam economy is powered by AI right now — everything from effortless translation to scam texts, emails, and job postings that all look legitimate.” AI helps scammers pass the “smell test,” added Joshua Planos, vice president of marketing at the Better Business Bureau in Lincoln, Neb. “For a scammer, that is the ultimate goal — to give off the impression that what you are providing is real,” he told TechNewsWorld. “It stands to reason that with how much AI and chatbots are being used for everything from marketing materials to internal documents, it would have an impact on employment or job market scams,” he said. Why Job Seekers Are Prime Scam Targets Scam growth is also being driven by vulnerable job seekers, added Erich Kron, a security awareness advocate at KnowBe4, a security awareness training provider in Clearwater, Fla. “An unstable world economy has created a level of concern for many people, especially when it comes to their employment and personal finances,” he told TechNewsWorld. “This uncertainty has people who would otherwise not be interested in other employment considering their options,” he continued. “Bad actors know this, and they leverage that fear and uncertainty to meet their goals.” “A fragile labor market and desperation have created the perfect storm,” added Sam Wright, head of partnerships and operations at Huntr, an online AI-powered resume builder and job search platform. “Many job seekers apply to dozens of listings a week with little feedback, so when something promising appears, they jump,” he told TechNewsWorld. AI can contribute to that fear and uncertainty, too. “Many individuals have concerns about AI replacing their roles, so they are more open to possible career changes than in the past,” Kron said. “This concern about career obsolescence is also a tool exploited by bad actors.” New Workers Targeted by AI-Powered Scams The ease of being able to post on multiple platforms, the ability to use AI to create legitimate-looking job posts, the growth in remote work, and the sensitive data shared in job scams have all fueled their growth, noted Mona Terry, chief operating officer and head of victim services at the Identity Theft Resource Center, in San Diego, a nonprofit organization devoted to minimizing risk and mitigating the impact of identity compromise and crime. Scammers are also taking advantage of job-seeking newbies. “Many individuals are looking for remote work, and for those who have not worked remotely before, or those new to the job market after having been employed for a number of years, the interview process may be new,” Terry told TechNewsWorld. “Asking for interviews on nontraditional platforms is a red flag for those in the know, but not for the average person,” she explained. “Scammers ask for information that is traditionally asked for after hiring as proof of eligibility to work — social security numbers, driver’s license, bank account numbers for direct deposit, etc. — before hiring.” Dean Boerner, a data scientist with Revelio Labs, a workforce intelligence company in New York City, noted that one reason fake job postings and phishing emails work is the vast and growing number of job postings on the internet and job seekers’ inability to sufficiently vet all those that might be of interest to them. “Just to give you an idea of the scale here, at any given time, hundreds of millions of open job postings are represented in our data, and these vary in terms of their likelihood of leading to an actual hire,” he told TechNewsWorld. “While not really a scam, the prevalence of ghost job postings contributes to the apparent multitude of opportunities, and these have proliferated as economic uncertainty has grown,” he said. “For instance, we’ve seen the ratio of hires per job postings fall from about 0.75 to below 0.5 in recent years. Part of this is also from a shortage of talent employers deem as truly qualified, and some of it may be from companies wanting to present as growing without actually growing.” How To Spot and Avoid Employment Scams For job seekers who wish to protect themselves from scammers, Diana Rothfuss, global solutions strategy director for risk, fraud and compliance at SAS, an analytics and artificial intelligence software company, in Cary, N.C. recommends that promising positions posted on a job board be cross-referenced on the company’s website to vet their legitimacy. “Only apply for jobs via the company’s website,” she told TechNewsWorld. “Very often, the scammer’s end goal is to collect sensitive personal information that can be used to commit other frauds, including identity theft.” “Don’t click the link in the job posting,” she warned. “Open the company’s website in another browser to ensure you haven’t been directed to a phishing site.” Beware of urgency, cautioned John Wilson, a senior fellow for threat research at Fortra, a cybersecurity services company in Eden Prairie, Minn. “While some jobs may be urgently needing a candidate, no legitimate company will hire anyone who has not been background checked — they can get in legal trouble — and this takes time,” he told TechNewsWorld. “Whenever you feel pressured to act quickly, slow down and check things out,” he said. “Urgency is a known persuasion technique used to influence people.” The best way to avoid these scams is to be cautious with unsolicited job offers, advised Paul Farnsworth, president of Dice, a career website for technology and engineering professionals in Centennial, Colo. “Always research the company thoroughly, be wary of any job that asks you to pay a fee upfront, and steer clear of any offers or setups that seem too good to be true,” he told TechNewsWorld. “Don’t forget the classic phishing red flags: double-check inconsistencies in email address domains, don’t share sensitive personal info, and look out for anything suspicious.” “With AI getting smarter, an uncertain economy, and the fact that these scams are low-risk and potentially high-reward for the people running them, chances are they’ll perpetuate and grow,” he said. John P. Mello Jr. has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, IT issues, privacy, e-commerce, social media, artificial intelligence, big data and consumer electronics. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Phoenix, Megapixel.Net and Government Security News. Email John. Leave a Comment Click here to cancel reply. Please sign in to post or reply to a comment. New users create a free account. Related Stories More by John P. Mello Jr. view all More in Cybersecurity