Some candidates aren't the person named on the résumé. This can be more serious than AI help in an interview, because the person you hire may want access to your systems rather than the job itself.
FBI warnings
In June 2022 the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center warned about deepfake video and stolen personal information being used to apply for remote jobs. Most of the jobs were in IT, programming and database work, and some of them had access to customer data and company systems.
The warning listed signs that interviewers had noticed. The candidate's lip movements didn't match the audio, coughs and sneezes didn't line up with the video, and background checks turned up someone else's identity.
Organized schemes
In June 2025 the US Justice Department described North Korean remote IT worker schemes that had used the identities of more than 80 Americans to get jobs at more than 100 US companies. Company laptops were sent to people in the US, who kept them running so that the workers could connect from abroad.
What helps
- Check identity before the interview. Compare the person on camera with their ID, and confirm the email address they applied with.
- Ask for something unplanned on camera. Asking the candidate to turn their head or hold up a hand can show the edges of a face filter.
- Check where the candidate connects from. A connection through a VPN or a hosting provider doesn't prove anything, but it's worth asking about if the candidate says they live nearby.
- Keep the same interviewer. Ask the interviewer from the first round to join a later round as well.
dontapplyai can ask the candidate to confirm their email address before the interview. It also tells you when the candidate connects through a VPN, a proxy or Tor, and when their browser's time zone doesn't match the location they connect from. None of these signs prove fraud on their own, but they show you where to ask more questions.
