How to Spot Fake Job Postings and AI Job Scams

🚫

Fake Job Postings

Scammers post fake roles on LinkedIn, Indeed, and company career pages to harvest personal data, charge "training fees," or steal identities. Unemployed candidates are the primary targets.

🤖

AI Agent Job Scams

A new wave of "AI career agents" promise to find jobs and apply on your behalf, then charge monthly fees or take a percentage of your first paycheck. Most are predatory. Some are outright fraud.

🎭

Deepfake Candidates

Someone else shows up to your video interview using real-time face or voice overlay technology to impersonate the actual candidate. The person who gets hired is not the person who interviewed.

How to spot a fake job posting

Red flag: The job description is vague, uses generic language, and doesn't name specific technologies, tools, or responsibilities.

Red flag: The salary is unusually high for the role level and location. If a "junior data analyst" role in a mid-size city is paying $200K, it's not real.

Red flag: The company name doesn't match any real company on LinkedIn, Glassdoor, or the state business registry. Search the company name + "scam" before engaging.

Red flag: They ask for your SSN, bank details, or a payment before you've had a real interview with a real person.

Red flag: The recruiter's email is a Gmail, Yahoo, or Outlook address instead of a company domain. Real recruiters email from @company.com.

Red flag: The entire process happens over text message or WhatsApp with no video calls, no formal interview, and an immediate offer.

What to do: Search the job title + company on the company's actual careers page. If the role isn't listed there, it's likely fake. Cross-reference the recruiter's LinkedIn profile: do they have a history of posts, connections, and endorsements, or was the account created recently?

How to recognize AI agent job scams

The pitch: "Our AI agent will find you a job, write your resume, apply to hundreds of positions, and negotiate your offer. Just pay $49/month (or give us 10% of your first paycheck)."

The reality: Most of these services mass-apply to jobs with a generic resume, which gets you blacklisted by ATS systems and hurts your chances at companies you actually want. Some collect your personal data and sell it. Some take your money and do nothing.

How to tell the difference: A legitimate AI career tool helps you write better resumes and practice interviews. It does not apply to jobs on your behalf without your explicit approval for each application. It does not charge you based on your salary. It does not require your login credentials to any job board.

The test: Ask them: "Can I see exactly which companies you're applying to before you submit?" If the answer is no, or if they say "we apply to hundreds of jobs automatically," run.

Free alternatives: You can build your own AI-powered job search using Claude or ChatGPT for free. See our Build Your Own AI People Search guide.

Where to Report Recruiting Fraud

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

Report job scams and identity theft. The FTC tracks fraud patterns and takes enforcement action against repeat offenders.

reportfraud.ftc.gov →

FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)

For internet-based fraud including phishing, identity theft, and employment scams that involve financial loss.

ic3.gov →

LinkedIn Fraud Reporting

Report fake job postings, fake recruiter profiles, and phishing messages directly to LinkedIn for investigation and removal.

LinkedIn Help Center →

Indeed Fraud Reporting

Flag suspicious job listings on Indeed. Their trust and safety team reviews reports and removes confirmed fraudulent postings.

indeed.com/trust-and-safety →

FAQ

Common questions

What is the biggest red flag in a job posting?

Any request for money or sensitive personal data before a real interview with a real person. Legitimate employers never charge candidates fees or ask for bank details up front.

Are AI job application agents legitimate?

Some tools that help you write and practice are. Services that mass-apply on your behalf, charge a share of your paycheck, or need your job-board logins are predatory or outright fraud.

Where do I report a fake job posting?

Report to the platform (LinkedIn or Indeed have dedicated forms), to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov, and if money was lost, to the FBI's IC3 at ic3.gov.

SourcingNav runs this playbook for you

Paste a job description and it builds the searches, scores every profile it finds, verifies emails, and drafts the outreach, with receipts for every score.

Paste a JD free →

Spot fake job postings