Your Company Might Be Involved in a Hiring Scam—Without Knowing It
They’ve got your logo.
They’ve cloned your About page.
They’re pretending to hire on your behalf.
Scammers are creating duplicate versions of real company websites to lure job seekers into a fake hiring process—and it’s working. These fraudsters build credibility through phony interviews, then seal the deal with a fake offer letter.
What comes next?
They ask for sensitive personal information under the guise of “onboarding.”
How the Scam Works
- A fake website mimics your real one—right down to the careers page and leadership bios.
- Scammers post job openings and reach out to candidates through platforms like LinkedIn or job boards.
- The candidate goes through a legitimate-sounding interview process.
- A job offer is made – often quickly.
- During “onboarding,” they’re asked for personal information: Social Security numbers, bank account details, or scanned IDs.
By the time the candidate realizes it’s a scam, they’ve already handed over everything.
How to Protect Your Brand – and Your Applicants
Claim your digital territory
Buy common variations of your website domain—like .net, .co, or common misspellings—to prevent scammers from using them to impersonate your company online.
Stay alert
Set up Google Alerts to get notified if your company name appears online in phrases like “job offer from (Your Company)” or “careers at (Your Company])” This way, if someone posts a fake job or creates a phishing site with your name, you’ll get notified and can take action.
Add a Clear Careers Disclaimer
Let candidates know that all hiring communication will come from your official domain (e.g., @yourcompany.com) and that you never request sensitive information until after verified employment begins.
Proactively Warn Applicants
Include a short note in job postings and auto-replies:
“We’ve been made aware of fraudulent job offers claiming to be from our company. All legitimate communication will come from [your domain], and we will never request personal financial information as part of the interview process.”
In a competitive hiring market, your candidate experience starts long before the first interview. Taking simple steps to protect job seekers from scams isn’t just good cybersecurity—it’s good leadership.