The candidate was perfect. Their interview was flawless. Their resume highlighted the qualifications, skills, experience, and personality you were looking for.
So, you hired them.
But once they started, something felt off. The work fell short, their communication was lacking and inconsistent, and they missed deadlines again and again. And there was a reason for that: it was a bait-and-switch, and it’s becoming more common, with Gartner predicting that by 2028, 25% of job candidates worldwide will be fake, mostly due to AI-generated profiles.
The person you hired wasn’t who they claimed to be. It could have been a fake LinkedIn profile, or the interview may have been coached or assisted by AI. Perhaps the person was real, but never intended to do the work.
Regardless of the deception method, the outcome is the same, and most hiring processes and tools aren’t equipped to detect them.
The New Scam in Staffing and Recruiting
Bait-and-switch tactics aren’t new. They’ve shown up for years in padded resumes and borrowed portfolios. But today, it’s taken a much more sophisticated turn.
One that often looks like this: A candidate uses AI-generated photos, fake credentials, or even deepfake videos to appear legitimate during interviews. Yet once hired, they disappear completely or quietly hand off the work to someone else. This is the modern bait-and-switch.
While it’s hard to pinpoint, it’s easy to see why it’s becoming increasingly common: remote and hybrid work means fewer in-person check-in and less oversight. At the same time, AI is making it relatively easy to quickly spin up convincing profiles and fake ones’ way through interviews without raising any immediate red flags.
The result? Companies miss deadlines, experience security issues, and see subpar output. Meanwhile, real candidates are under more pressure, are forced to sit through longer vetting timelines, and face a widening trust gap that makes it hard for them to stand out.
What makes it worse? Modern hiring practices and the over-reliance on AI tools mean the deception is slipping through the cracks.
Why AI Recruiting Tools Fall Short
Let’s make one thing clear: AI has a role in staffing and recruiting. Whether that’s with scheduling interviews, reaching out to candidates, or coordinating schedules, the efficiency gains are there.
However, in this case, efficiency doesn’t equal accuracy because these tools aren’t designed to spot fake personas, outsourced work, or deepfake video interviews.
They can’t recognize when candidate responses sound rehearsed or when they avoid the specifics that only someone with experience would know. It’s these subtle signs that something’s wrong that still require human judgment, which is why people are still vital in the hiring process.
Why Human Vetting Is Still Essential
Technology’s role in the hiring process will only grow, especially as companies feel the pressure to hire quickly and swoop up top-tier talent before their competitors do.
For now, however, the technology, including the growing list of AI hiring tools, can’t replace the instinct, experience, or genuine human connection of skilled recruiters.
That’s why companies must adopt a layered approach to hiring. Whether through trusted staffing partners or well-trained internal teams, human involvement is what prevents bad actors and attracts genuine talent.
Because while speed can help you fill roles faster, a layer of trust ensures you’re hiring the right people. And that starts—and ends—with humans.