Avoiding Scam Job Postings Looking to Steal Your Identity or Damage Your Company Brand
- Paul Falcone
- 2 days ago
- 9 min read
Learn about online fraud prevention and how to spot scam job postings and resumes before it's too late.
An article on NBC News’ website caught my attention titled: "They Were Looking for Work but Found a Scam Instead." The focus of the article was on widespread fraud infecting the online job market, especially for candidates and employers using LinkedIn. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/job-scam-ziprecruiter-linkedin-work-postings-fake-listing-rcna238162
Quoted in the article was Jay Jones, a copywriter turned globally recognized cybercrime investigator and fraud prevention specialist, best known as "The Profiler." I was fortunate enough to catch up with Jay, and I invited him to develop a guest blog for my website. Jay was kind and generous enough to write the article that follows and provides words of wisdom and insights that will benefit all of us, especially corporate recruiters and headhunters as well as our peers and friends in career transition.
Thank you, Jay, for sharing your many talents with us. Following is an article that’s well worth the time to read, especially in today’s world of online scams and fraudulent job postings looking to steal candidates’ personal credentials in order to create false identities. Your caution on using LinkedIn’s “Open to Work” feature is especially relevant for my audience, as are the benefits your firm offers both companies and candidates. I truly appreciate the wisdom you share below for the benefit of so many, especially the "Critical Tips" and "Golden Gems" you provide below for both candidates and companies.
_______________________________
Guest Contributor: Jay Jones, Owner, The Profiler Protection Service & Jones, do you copy?
It’s not you: Chaos in the job market is worse than you can imagine
Professional journeys used to begin with trust. Jobs were earned and the deal confirmed with a handshake. Today is a different story because most jobs are found online and more specifically on LinkedIn. LinkedIn isn’t telling you something—it’s being overwhelmed by fraud: fake profiles, fake jobs, hijacked profiles, affiliate marketing abuse, real company page infiltration, and fake companies. As these threats scale, platforms like LinkedIn have yet to take real responsibility, leaving individuals and businesses to do the work of reporting while their information, likenesses, and reputations suffer in the process. Then I came along. . .
I was laid off in December of 2023, two weeks before the birth of my daughter. I was immediately bombarded with scammers the moment I put up the Open to Work banner. I tried to ignore them, but the more I tried, the more I thought about others who would be scammed by them. I decided then and there to take down all kinds of scammers. I’m known now as The Profiler, and I’m the founder of The Profiler Protection Service.
Overview of The Profiler Protection Service
The Profiler Protection Service, a signature program found at https://theprofiler.org, is designed for corporations, businesses, brands, and professionals, deeply concerned about their online credibility and safety. I work with solopreneurs, entrepreneurs, companies, and candidates, and my work benefits corporate HR/Talent Acquisition departments and search firms. The service offers investigative support, scam detection, and ongoing reputation management for anyone navigating today’s fraud-filled landscape.
· Mission: To combat fraud and protect legitimate professionals from online abuse.
· Coverage: Services span from one-time investigative audits to continuous profile monitoring, scam reporting, case documentation, and brand restoration.
· Expertise: By removing over 32,000 fake job ads and more than 7,000 fraudulent profiles, The Profiler Protection Service brings a proven investigative approach to LinkedIn safety, informed by real cases and partner media reports like NBC News, Yahoo News, and shared by Proofpoint, a cybersecurity and compliance solutions provider, protecting people on every channel, including email, the web, the cloud, and social media.
Key Threats Facing LinkedIn Today
LinkedIn’s original strength—networking for professionals—has now become its vulnerability. Rampant fraud is eroding trust at every level, and most concerningly, the platform’s response remains passive.
1. Fake Jobs
The explosion of fraudulent job postings is more than an inconvenience, it’s a crisis. Recruitment scammers use fake profiles to promote jobs that don’t exist, luring candidates with promises of career advancement only to redirect them to paid “services” or identity-theft schemes.
Result: Job seekers lose money, personal data, and time; brands suffer reputation damage; real recruiters lose credibility.
Statements: LinkedIn claims to ban millions of fake accounts, but this is not something to celebrate. It reveals the staggering volume of the problem and the demonstrated inability to address it properly.
Insider Assistance: My cases have led to mass takedowns, and I’ve helped thousands of people identify patterns in fake postings, helping them distinguish legitimate recruiters from scammers.
2. Fake Profiles & Hijacked Profiles
Fake LinkedIn profiles are created to impersonate executives, scam users, or facilitate phishing attacks. These accounts might involve fictitious work histories, AI-generated photos, or hijacked real profiles.
Tactics: Once connected to job seekers or other real professionals, scammers may send malware, extract confidential information under false pretenses, or pretend to be looking for work while really looking to imitate real hiring processes. Hijacked profiles can be weaponized in affiliate marketing scams, used to direct candidates to fake job offers, or exploited in elaborate CEO frauds.
Detection: I utilize advanced investigative techniques—including reverse image search, pattern recognition, and forensic analysis—to help users spot imposters and reclaim access to their compromised accounts.
3. Affiliate Marketing Abuse
Affiliate marketing fraud on LinkedIn is a silent epidemic.
How it works: Scammers create high-demand job titles leading to fake company pages, paid background checks, or survey taking websites. This allows them to drive traffic to fraudulent websites while making money off of unsuspecting job seekers.
SEO Manipulation: “Black hat” SEO, AI-generated content, and keyword stuffing make illegitimate sites rank higher and increase exposure to LinkedIn victims. Millions of fake profiles, AI-generated posts, and social media subdomains are deployed to mask damaging campaigns.
Result: Brands lose control over their digital presence, and candidates get caught in redirection chains leading to fraudulent or dangerous external sites.
Brand Restoration: The Profiler Protection Service tracks affiliate fraud campaigns, abuse, and works with site owners and domain hosts for takedown actions.
4. LinkedIn's Failure to Act
Despite its scale, LinkedIn has failed to address these threats in a manner that is appropriate to the level of the threats.
Reactive not proactive: Most removals only happen after the fake jobs and profiles are called out directly by name (via the work I do, for example). The active platform monitoring is deeply flawed.
Gaps in protection: Features intended to help (like account recovery or scam reporting) often leave users frustrated, waiting days, weeks, or months for a response.
For instance, LinkedIn’s transparency report for 2024 revealed that the platform identified and removed over 70 million fake accounts in just six months, but far more evaded detection. Having removed 70 million fake accounts means something is seriously wrong at the beginning stages of vetting and monitoring accounts post creation. Scammers have grown more sophisticated, using automation and social engineering tactics that traditional reporting tools can’t keep pace with.
The Profiler’s Recommendations to Stay Safe While Looking for Work
For Job Seekers
Here are a few ways to identify fake jobs:
· The company you’d be working for doesn’t have a website or employees listed anywhere online.
· It’s a job that was scraped and may have been real at one point but relisted as a means of stealing your data.
· If you receive an email saying you applied for a job from a recruiter, always search your email for that company’s name. Ninety-nine percent of companies send you a confirmation email after you apply. If you don’t receive a confirmation email, it’s most likely a scam because scammers count on you not tracking every application you submit.
· There is no recruiter attached to the job on LinkedIn. You’re applying and don’t know where your information is going.
· The “company” has a ton of data entry, remote roles in the customer service space all using the ‘Easy Apply’ button on LinkedIn. Easy Apply is supposed to be convenient and it is, but scammers take advantage of its ease of use and accessibility.
· Always apply directly on the company site’s career page.
· Schedule a consultation call with me and I’ll walk you through what to avoid.
For Hiring Managers and HR Professionals
Here’s how to identify a fake application:
· Applicants with generic names like “John Anderson” or similar ones.
· Resumes with no links to a professional social media profile.
· Applicants who are averse to getting on camera.
· Applicants with addresses in Delaware or New Jersey. Foreign scammers pretend to live in these two states because these states have certain advantages for their fraudulent activities. Delaware is known for its business-friendly laws, including favorable tax regulations and the ability to form anonymous companies, which can make scams harder to trace. New Jersey, similarly, is frequently used in scams involving government impersonation because scammers spoof official state agency names and phone numbers to appear legitimate and coercive. Don’t automatically assume someone from these states is a fake applicant: simply exercise more caution.
The recommendations here come straight from Vol. 2 of Jay's scam detection guide, which is available for purchase here: https://www.theprofiler.org/shop/p/the-profilers-scam-detection-guide-vol-2
Golden Gems for Avoiding Scam Job Postings
· I always say, “The more scammers try to hide, the more they reveal themselves.” Vigilance and informed skepticism are your greatest defense.
· Never let the convenience of fast applications override thorough verification: taking extra steps saves years of potential loss.
· Fighting job and profile scams is a community effort. Building your own awareness can protect your network and your brand.
· Stay connected to Official Channels: Follow trusted professional networks and community alerts to stay informed about emerging scam patterns.
· Get a Scam Consultation: Schedule a consultation with me to learn direct methods to spot fake roles and protect your identity.
The Profiler Protection Service: Solutions and Strategies
Expert Scam Identification
- Rapid detection of fake job listings, recruiter profiles, and suspicious postings.
- Custom tools to search for AI-generated images, cross-reference educational and work histories, and analyze suspicious message sequences.
Brand Protection and Restoration
- Proactive monitoring of personal and company LinkedIn pages using hybrid AI and manual techniques.
- Escalation support for profile hijacks, including documentation, recovery tactics, and outreach to LinkedIn’s security team.
- Restoration campaigns and managed content removal to reclaim brand credibility after abuse.
Affiliate Fraud and SEO Manipulation Defense
- Audit trails for fraudulent affiliate marketing campaigns, including identification of compromised parent and affiliate pages.
- Documentation of black hat SEO and unwanted redirects targeting your brand.
- Coordination with web hosts, domain registrars, and search engines for takedown actions and the prevention of further abuse.
Education & Community Support
- Webinars, guides, and consulting sessions on recognizing scam tactics and safely navigating LinkedIn recruitment.
- Community alert systems to crowdsource suspicious activity and accelerate platform response.
- Ongoing support for affected job seekers and business owners rebuilding after identity theft or scam exposure.
What Makes my Work as The Profiler Different?
Proven Success: Over 32,000 fake jobs and 7,000+ fraudulent profiles taken down—I’m more than a digital sentry; I’m a hands-on solution provider.
Recognition: Achievements covered by NBC News and Yahoo News amplify my work and reputation as The Profiler, a leader in scam mitigation and brand protection.
Transparency: Clear documentation, audit trails, and actionable advice for victims and organizations.
Real Advocacy: As The Profiler, I am both an investigator and industry advocate, driving for better platform safeguards and regulatory attention.
Looking Forward: The Fight Against Fraud is Ongoing
Fraud on LinkedIn will only become more complex and damaging if left unchecked. The Profiler Protection Service is here to provide actionable defenses, expert advice, and a pathway to restore trust online. Don’t wait until you become a victim. Visit https://theprofiler.org to book my services, learn more, schedule a consultation, or support the work.
Guest Author Bio
Jay Jones
Jay Jones is a copywriter turned globally recognized cybercrime investigator and fraud prevention specialist, best known as "The Profiler." After dedicating years to building a career in advertising and achieving his dream role at an ad agency, Jay’s trajectory changed dramatically when he was laid off unexpectedly just before the birth of his daughter in December 2023. Facing uncertainty and industry-wide anxiety about the job market, Jay’s resilience was tested as he sought new opportunities. Upon making his job search public with the #opentowork banner on LinkedIn, Jay was quickly inundated by offers from recruiters and hiring managers, yet the tone and urgency of their messages soon revealed a darker truth beneath the surface. Nearly all of them weren’t real.
Jay identified the hallmarks of organized job and recruiting scams: excessive flattery (“recruiting love bombing”), urgency, and immediate demands for personal information. Rather than simply blocking scammers or ignoring the problem, Jay drew on his investigative instincts and a deep-seated belief in helping others. Leaning into research instead of fear, he committed to exposing widespread fraud infecting the online job market, despite concerns about backlash or career risk. He recognized that raising awareness and defending the integrity of the professional community was a greater calling than personal comfort.
Jay is a pioneer in platform accountability and is an internationally known expert on LinkedIn fraud and scam detection with his work and advocacy featured in NBC News and Yahoo News. His impact is measured by results: to date, Jay has personally gotten 32,639 fake jobs and over 7,000 fraudulent profiles removed from LinkedIn, protecting thousands of real professionals and businesses across the globe.
Contact info:
Emails:
Websites:
Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/jonesdoyoucopy
Substack: https://substack.com/@theprofiler7
_____________________________
Please feel free to subscribe to Paul Falcone’s blog for similar articles by clicking the “Subscribe to Blog” link and entering your email address here: https://www.paulfalconehr.com/blog.
For more information on Paul's books, please visit his #HarperCollinsLeadership author page at https://www.harpercollinsleadership.com/catalog/paul-falcone/.
You can likewise find his books on Amazon at amazon.com/author/paulfalcone or at Barnes & Noble at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Paul%20Falcone.
For video snippets of Paul’s presentations, visit his YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@paulfalconeHR.
________________________________________
PaulFalconeHR.com Consulting Services