There were clues from the start that it was too good to be true. A headhunter emailed me with a job prospect \u2013 a journalist role with \u201ca leading US technology and markets editorial team\u201d. The opportunity, she said, was part of a confidential expansion and hadn\u2019t been publicly posted.<\/p>\n
My spidey-sense was tingling, but the timing was auspicious. I was on the lookout for new work as my maternity leave was coming to an end. Initially, the email seemed legitimate. When I Googled the sender, I found a headhunter with the same name and profile picture on LinkedIn, and the message was clearly tailored to me: It referenced several roles I\u2019d previously held and identified my specific areas of expertise. \u201cYour focus on the real-world impacts of AI, digital culture and the gig economy aligns perfectly with an internal, high-priority mandate I\u2019m managing,\u201d the headhunter wrote.<\/p>\n
I emailed back. The headhunter asked me to send over my CV, along with my salary expectations, preferred work structure (remote, hybrid, or on-site), and geographic flexibility. In return, she shared a more detailed job description. The role was, indeed, perfect for me. Too perfect \u2013 as if someone had put my CV into ChatGPT and asked it to create a job description based directly on my experience. It was located in the city in which I live and offered a hybrid working arrangement, just as I\u2019d requested. The biggest tell: I\u2019d been ambitious with my salary suggestion, but this was offering significantly more.<\/p>\n
By this point I was fairly sure I was being taken for a ride, but I still couldn\u2019t figure out the scam. I found myself trying to justify the anomalies. It\u2019s an American company, and salaries are generally higher there, aren\u2019t they? I asked about next steps. Then the headhunter gave me feedback. My CV undersold my leadership skills, she said; it needed refining. If I liked, she could connect me with a specialist who would make my profile more compelling. They would discuss pricing directly with me.<\/p>\n
Ah, so that was it.<\/p>\n
Against the backdrop of a particularly tough job market<\/a> in the UK, recruitment scams are on the rise. Fraudsters use the promise of fake roles to trick jobseekers out of money or personal information (or both). Report Fraud, the UK\u2019s national cybercrime reporting service, says it received more than twice as many reports of recruitment scams<\/a> in 2024 compared with 2022. Lloyds Banking Group reported a 237% rise in job scams<\/a> from January to August last year, and Monzo said more than 10,000 of its customers fell victim<\/a> to such scams in 2025.<\/p>\n AI tools have made scamming much easier, says Keith Rosser, chair of JobsAware, a not-for-profit organisation that helps workers report scams. \u201cYou can sit nowadays anywhere in the world and run a large job scam against people in the UK,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s not very difficult, you\u2019ve got a reasonable chance of success, and you\u2019ve got a very low chance of being caught.\u201d<\/p>\n In my case, I didn\u2019t lose anything more than an hour\u2019s time refining my CV and a bit of pride. But what if I were less experienced, less cynical, or simply more desperate?<\/p>\n Are you really talking to the person you think you are? Composite: Posed by model; Catherine Delahaye\/Getty Images\/Guardian Design<\/p>\n Recruitment scams come in different forms. One of the most prevalent, known as a \u201ctask scam\u201d, claims to offer the chance to make money by doing simple online activities<\/a>, such as liking TikTok videos or reviewing products. These scammers often approach people over WhatsApp or social media with the promise of remote work, flexible hours and fast cash. Sometimes, they initially pay small amounts of money as promised, leading victims into a false sense of security that the arrangement is legitimate. They might then start asking for payments, for example claiming there is a fee to retrieve funds or to upgrade your account in order to earn more. In other cases, victims might find themselves drawn into illegal money laundering operations, with criminals paying money into their bank account and asking them to transfer it onwards minus a commission.<\/p>\n Task scams tend to particularly target young people; students, for example, looking for work<\/a>. Others, such as the CV scam that targeted me, go after workers in more senior positions \u2013 and are more bespoke. Often, they will impersonate a real recruiter or employer; recruiters have reported their LinkedIn profiles being cloned by people who then message jobseekers using their details.<\/p>\n After enticing applicants with a role, the scammers will ask for money under a variety of guises. In my case, they said it was to improve my CV \u2013 and hinted heavily that this was necessary if I wanted a shot at the lucrative role dangled in front of me. Other scammers might say it\u2019s to pay for training, or for equipment or travel costs the employer will later reimburse. The government\u2019s Disclosure and Barring Service has reported scams asking for money to cover fake DBS checks<\/a>. In some cases, fraudsters specifically target jobseekers abroad and ask for money to cover visa costs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve heard of people who have had job interviews where the interview itself has been a scam,\u201d says Lisa Webb, consumer law expert at Which?. \u201cYou\u2019re asked to phone a number to have your interview, and that phone number is a premium-rate line, so you\u2019re actually paying.\u201d<\/p>\n Even if no money changes hands, scams can be a way to mine victims\u2019 data. Posing as a fake employer gives scammers the cover to get bank details or passport information. \u201cYou can have your identity cloned,\u201d says Webb. \u201cPeople can end up taking loans or credit cards out in your name; you can end up having your own banking impacted.\u201d<\/p>\n Young people and school leavers are often targeted. Composite: Posed by model; Halfpoint Images\/Guardian Design<\/p>\n When I received the first email from my \u201cheadhunter\u201d, I was drawn in by how professional and customised it seemed. The writing was of a good standard and the sender was clearly familiar with my profile. It felt personal. Even five years ago, says Rosser, you could often spot a scam just by looking at the grammar. \u201cBut they\u2019re so clever now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe growing accessibility of AI means that criminals have way more leverage than they ever did before,\u201d Webb says. \u201cThey can produce these scams much faster. They can make them more relevant, and there\u2019s a much higher level of sophistication.\u201d<\/p>\n Oleksandra Lietova, head of marketing at educational platform Ratatype, has noticed this shift. She used to receive job offers that were obviously fake: the messages would be vague and the jobs would be unrelated to her line of work. But recently she received a string of emails that seemed more authentic. They appeared to be from recognisable companies \u2013 Burberry, Ernst & Young, Google, Meta \u2013 and used the real company logos. But on closer inspection, she noticed the senders\u2019 addresses didn\u2019t use the proper company format and the emails contained dodgy links.<\/p>\n She shared screenshots online to warn others. \u201cWhen you open an email where it says, \u2018Hi, we are from Google, we have some job opportunities for you,\u2019 you think for just a second, \u2018Wow, this is it. Finally, I did it,\u2019\u201d she says.<\/p>\n It\u2019s exactly this psychological desire that recruitment scams abuse, says Rosser. \u201cA lot of people feel as if they\u2019ve been found, almost \u2013 \u2018Somebody wants me!\u2019\u201d he says.<\/p>\n As with all fraud, recruitment scams prey on vulnerability, says Linda Homewood, fraud and scams ambassador at UK charity the Cyber Helpline. With the UK unemployment rate at a five-year high<\/a> and the US experiencing the weakest year for job growth since the pandemic<\/a>, many jobseekers globally are desperate, which can make them prime targets.<\/p>\n Seattle-based Candice Jackson, who works in customer support for tech and healthcare, found this out after she lost her job in 2023. She struggled to find a position at a similar level and started getting into financial difficulty. Her mortgage company was badgering her: her house was at risk. So when she received messages from recruiters on LinkedIn with seemingly perfect job opportunities, she jumped at the chance. One recruiter said she\u2019d need to get her CV professionally edited and referred her to a CV specialist on freelance platform Fiverr. She knew something felt off, but in the moment she didn\u2019t have time to think. \u201cAll of the verbiage they were using was: urgent, urgent, urgent. You have to do this now, now, now,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n After being scammed, Jackson\u2019s main feeling was embarrassment. \u201cIn the past, there have been instances where I\u2019ve seen other people get sucked into scams and I\u2019ve been like: \u2018How could you fall for that?\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cAnd then I fall for it, and I\u2019m thinking to myself: \u2018How could you be so stupid?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n This is a very common sentiment, says Homewood. Research by the Cyber Helpline has found that victims rate the mental health impacts of fraud as much more significant than financial ones. \u201cThe primary thing is feeling stupid,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Conventional wisdom advises that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. But Webb and Homewood urge against framing recruitment fraud in a way that places the blame on victims. \u201cI really, really want victims to know that this is not their fault,\u201d Webb says. \u201cThese are criminals, and you are a victim of a crime.\u201d<\/p>\n Be wary of people who get in touch out of the blue. Composite: Posed by models; Oscar Wong\/Getty Images\/Guardian Design<\/p>\n There are some practical steps you can take to try to spot a scam. Be particularly suspicious of unsolicited contact, messages from generic emails such as Gmail or Yahoo addresses, and communications conducted over WhatsApp or social media. If you\u2019re unsure about a company, you can research it by looking it up on Companies House<\/a> (if it\u2019s registered in the UK). If you see a job advert or receive an offer you\u2019re suspicious of, you could reach out directly to the hiring company to check it is legitimate.<\/p>\n But, as Webb says, this is not always practical. People desperate for work may be applying for hundreds of positions; they may not recognise that someone is approaching them out of the blue. \u201cScams work often because they\u2019re targeting people who are time-poor, or distracted, or in the middle of something,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Online recruitment platforms also bear some responsibility, Rosser says. He would like to see a more robust, standardised system for checking the validity of job adverts posted to such sites.<\/p>\n If you believe you have been the victim of a recruitment scam, the first thing to do is contact your bank; use the number on the back of your card so you know you\u2019re getting through to the genuine fraud team. In some cases, you may be able to get your money back. Homewood also encourages victims to report the incident to the police via Report Fraud<\/a>, even if you don\u2019t expect much to come of it, as reporting can help the police find patterns of fraud.<\/p>\n In a cruel twist, if you have fallen for one con, you may find you are soon approached with another. \u201cThere\u2019s this really horrible phrase, \u2018suckers list\u2019, which is something that criminals refer to \u2013 whereby, if they\u2019ve caught someone once in one of these scams, they then consider putting you on a \u2018suckers list\u2019 to continue to target you,\u201d says Webb.<\/p>\n One example of this, known as a recovery scam, happens soon after an initial incident. Say you\u2019re the victim of a fake job scam or another fraudulent scheme; someone posing as a lawyer or other agent may reach out offering to recover the money you\u2019ve lost. At some point, they will request an upfront fee. This is also a scam.<\/p>\n Why me? \u2026 Victoria Turk. Composite: Amit Lennon\/The Observer\/Guardian Design<\/p>\n Looking closely at the emails from my \u201cheadhunter\u201d, there were some red flags. Although I found a LinkedIn account matching the headhunter\u2019s name and photo, that person appeared to be based in Madrid \u2013 a strange choice for an American employer \u2013 and their LinkedIn posts were in Spanish. The email address of the person who contacted me included this headhunter\u2019s name, but it was a generic Gmail address rather than a corporate email. And while their email signature also said they were based in Madrid, the phone number listed was American, with a Tennessee area code. It just so happens that the CV specialist the headhunter first referred me to appears to be based in Tennessee.<\/p>\n After I stopped responding, the headhunter followed up, emphasising my suitability for the mystery role. Even now, she (was she even a she?) seemed convincing. Her message felt human. \u201cI know things can get busy, especially while transitioning back into work after time away, so I didn\u2019t want the thread to get lost on your side,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n In response, I was upfront. I wrote and said I now believed this job offer was a scam \u2013 that the job didn\u2019t exist and was a ploy to get me to pay for CV writing services from the start. I told her I was writing an article about job scams. What was her response to this allegation? I wanted answers, for the purposes of this article but also personally. Why did they target me, specifically?<\/p>\n Previously so quick to reply, the headhunter didn\u2019t respond.<\/p>\n Even though I\u2019d recognised the scam early and hadn\u2019t lost any money, I felt a tiny bit bereft. Just for a moment, I\u2019d found myself daydreaming about what this new, exciting role might be like \u2013 and what I could do with the salary. My ego was dented. Was it so unbelievable that someone would spot my brilliance and offer me the perfect job?<\/p>\n Jackson empathises. \u201cEmotionally, it\u2019s kind of \u2026 I don\u2019t want to say devastating, but it is a huge letdown,\u201d she says. In her case, she managed to get her money back, but her job hunt continued. She ended up losing her home, though she is sanguine about the experience. \u201cI don\u2019t have that financial pressure any more, and I\u2019m staying with family, so I\u2019m able to be more intentional about my job search,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n She doesn\u2019t want to jinx anything, but she\u2019s expecting an offer soon.<\/p>\n Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters<\/a> section, please click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There were clues from the start that it was too good to be true. 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