Field notes on fake candidates.
What we see in real pipelines, what the signals look like, and how to handle it without turning recruiting into an interrogation. Written by the people who run TalentShield on their own hiring every day.
Five things fake applications get wrong, and the one thing they get right
Fabricated applications are built to pass keyword filters, not to survive a careful look. Five checks any recruiter can do in a minute, and why the sixth one is the trap.
What is a fake candidate? A plain-language guide for recruiters
Fake candidates are not one thing. From AI-polished CVs to stolen identities run by state operators: what the term covers, how big the problem is, and why one signal never settles it.
Who is behind fake candidates? The operator, the farm and the ChatGPT candidate
Three profiles account for most fake candidates in tech hiring: state-backed operators using stolen identities, laptop farms holding several jobs at once, and real people with AI-written CVs. What each wants and how each shows up.
Why fake candidates are rising now, and what to do about it from Monday
Remote hiring, generative AI and industrial-scale fraud explain why fake candidates went from rare to routine. Here is the logic behind it and a three-step plan that costs nothing to start.
Why we built TalentShield, and why it never says "fake"
Fake candidates hit our own recruitment agency first. Here is what we built in response, and the one rule we refuse to break: the product shows signals, a person makes the call.
See it on your own pipeline.
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