{"id":3672,"date":"2026-11-05T18:46:11","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T18:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theonegroup.co.uk\/talentpartners\/?p=3672"},"modified":"2026-11-05T18:46:11","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T18:46:11","slug":"are-the-people-youre-hiring-real","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theonegroup.co.uk\/talentpartners\/are-the-people-youre-hiring-real\/","title":{"rendered":"Are the people you’re hiring real?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Remote hiring has transformed access to technical talent. It has also created a new category of hiring risk. Over the past year, fake and AI-assisted applications have moved from an occasional problem to a recurring feature of technology recruitment, and the most organised schemes are now the subject of international security advisories.<\/p>\n

This article sets out what’s driving the trend, the risks it creates for the business and the controls technology leaders should expect their hiring process to include.<\/p>\n

Why are fake job applicants becoming more common?<\/h2>\n

Three trends have come together. Remote hiring has removed many of the face-to-face checks that used to catch impostors. Generative AI makes a convincing CV, cover letter or interview answer quick and cheap to produce. And organised fraud, including state-backed schemes, now uses fake identities to win technology jobs and access company systems.<\/p>\n

Volume is part of the problem. Reporting on the ACCA’s latest global talent trends survey, Personnel Today notes that some candidates are using AI chatbots to apply, adding to application volumes. In the same survey, 69% of UK finance and accountancy leaders said they had concerns about AI being used in hiring. When every application is well written, the usual signals that separate strong candidates from weak ones become less reliable.<\/p>\n

At the extreme end, hiring has become a route for state-backed fraud. In September, agencies in Australia, Germany, Japan and the US issued a joint advisory on a North Korean campaign that infected more than 30,000 devices through bogus coding tests. As The Register reported, this comes on top of North Korea’s better-known tactic of placing its own IT workers in technology roles under fake identities. Researchers estimate that roughly 100,000 are employed or seeking work worldwide.<\/p>\n

For leadership teams, the implication is that recruitment now forms part of the organisation’s security perimeter.<\/p>\n

How common are fake job applicants?<\/h2>\n

More common than most hiring managers assume, and hard to measure, because the cases that succeed go unnoticed. Early data from a fraud-detection tool Checkr is trialling flagged 36% of applicants for review, rising to half for software and AI engineering roles. A flag isn’t proof of fraud, but it shows how many applications need a second look.<\/p>\n

The practical consequence is that screening takes longer and carries more weight. Application volumes are rising at the same time as written applications have become a weaker guide to ability.<\/p>\n

What do fake applications look like in practice?<\/h2>\n

Most follow a few patterns. A CV written by AI that describes experience the candidate can’t discuss. Interview answers fed in real time by an AI tool. Face-swapping software on video calls. And, once hired, someone other than the successful candidate doing the work, sometimes through laptop farms that disguise where they’re based.<\/p>\n

Not every case is fraud in the criminal sense. Some candidates exaggerate, and AI has made that easier. Others use proxies, with a stronger engineer taking the technical interview and someone else starting the job. At the serious end, the person hired is a front for someone else entirely.<\/p>\n

In the cases The ONE Group’s Technology team has encountered, the discrepancy became clear only when the candidate was asked to attend in person and discuss their work in detail.<\/p>\n

What is the risk to the business?<\/h2>\n

The cost goes well beyond a bad hire. Someone in a technical role may have access to code, customer data and systems from their first week. And employers who hire someone without the right to work, without correct checks, face civil penalties of up to \u00a345,000 per illegal worker, or \u00a360,000 for repeat breaches.<\/p>\n

There are also the familiar costs of a failed appointment: lost months, a disrupted team and a search that has to restart. In a market where experienced engineers are already scarce, those delays affect delivery directly.<\/p>\n

Is it a problem if candidates use AI?<\/h2>\n

No, not on its own. Plenty of good candidates use AI to tidy up a CV or prepare for an interview. It becomes a problem when someone uses it to pretend to be a person they’re not, with experience they don’t have or answers they can’t give without help.<\/p>\n

Developers take a pragmatic view. In Stack Overflow’s 2026 developer survey of more than 30,000 people, nearly half said they trust AI when they can verify its work. That’s a sound principle for hiring too.<\/p>\n

We’d recommend setting a clear policy on acceptable AI use at each stage, including take-home tests and live exercises, and sharing it with candidates in advance. Clear rules make breaches easier to identify and are fairer to legitimate applicants.<\/p>\n

What are the warning signs of a fake applicant?<\/h2>\n

Look for a pattern. Common warning signs include CV claims that don’t hold up in interview, repeated refusals to meet in person, interruptions or background voices on video calls, visual glitches that may point to face-swapping software, and requests to be paid in cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n

Each of these can have an innocent explanation. Together, they warrant closer scrutiny before an offer is made.<\/p>\n

What controls should a remote hiring process include?<\/h2>\n

Verification at every stage. Before interview, check that the CV, online presence and first conversation tell the same story. During interview, keep cameras on and probe detail. Before an offer, verify identity and right to work and take references directly. After they start, confirm the person logging in is the person you hired.<\/p>\n

In practice, the most effective controls are straightforward:<\/p>\n