Shocking Revelation: 1 in 4 Candidates Will be Fake by 2028

1 in 4 Candidate Profiles Will Be Fake by 2028

Sometimes hiring mistakes happen. You may have onboarded an employee who seemed great in the interview, but then failed to perform as promised after hiring. While this unfortunate scenario has happened as long as jobs have existed, it’s becoming more prevalent now in the age of AI.

In fact, did you know that by 2028, experts project that one in four job candidates will be fake? This information comes from a Gartner Study, Mitigate Rising Candidate Fraud Through Identity Verification, completed in 2025. The core of this study affirms that candidate fraud is on the rise as candidates adopt GenAI, submit fraudulent documents, or conceal their location.

The Problem: More Candidates will Be Fake

While remote work offers a great amount of benefits and is highly desirable for workers across the board, it leaves companies more open to scammers. Fake profiles, deepfakes, AI response generators rigging video interviews, and hiring managers untrained in identifying these discrepancies can allow more fake job candidates into their company’s roster. This harms genuine job seekers and companies that need to fill roles to maintain operations or grow.

Though remote interviews make it easier for scammers, the root cause is the growth of AI usage in every facet of the recruitment process. As AI is implemented to mass scan resumes, candidates in turn use AI to mass apply to jobs and keyword rig applications to pass the AI bias. This has resulted in more recruiters increasingly encountering waves of fake resumes and applications, making it harder to identify genuine candidates. This leads to the projected statistic that 1 in 4, or 25% of candidates will be fake in just a few years.

Many report seeing clusters of nearly identical resumes—sometimes six to ten at a time—with only minor tweaks to names, emails, or bullet points. These are often generated by bots or the same individual, aiming to slip past automated filters and maximize their chances of getting noticed.

The proliferation of services that mass-distribute resumes to thousands of recruiters for a fee is compounding the issue, flooding inboxes with low-quality or fraudulent applications. As a result, recruiters are finding it more challenging than ever to separate legitimate talent from the noise created by mass-apply bots and AI-generated profiles

Absolutely! Here’s the updated list with an additional item addressing the rise of synthetic profiles and fake credentials:

How Candidate Cheating Has Evolved in 2025—and What’s Ahead

This year, candidate fraud has reached new levels of sophistication, and the outlook for 2026 suggests these challenges will only intensify. More candidates will be fake, causing more employers to be vigilant.

1. AI-Powered Real-Time Assistance

Modern AI prompting tools are now providing candidates with instant answers during interviews, sometimes discreetly displayed on mirrored screens or whispered through earpieces. For example, one recruiter reported a candidate who brought their own AI bot into a Zoom interview under the pretense of “taking notes”, but in reality, the bot was listening to questions and feeding the candidate nearly flawless responses in real time. Now that’s scarier than a mere fake profile picture!

2. Deepfake Technology

Advances in deepfake tech now allow individuals to mask both their face and voice, making it possible for someone entirely different to attend an interview on a candidate’s behalf. Imagine thinking you’re speaking with a candidate named John, when in fact you’re interviewing a skilled actor with John’s face digitally superimposed; an unsettling but increasingly real scenario. Thankfully, you can look for the signs of deepfake filters and use some tricks of your own to identify these scammers quickly during interviews.

3. AI-Generated Technical Responses

Candidates are leveraging AI assistants to write code or solve case studies live during technical interviews. Many are using online resources to anticipate company-specific questions and exercises, arriving at interviews ready to deliver tailored, “perfect” answers that closely match the job description. This makes it more difficult to determine whether job applicants are truly knowledgeable or skilled.

To curb potential cheating, employers can take a few actions:

• Conduct Live, Interactive Interviews: Use real-time coding sessions with cameras on and screen sharing enabled. Ask candidates to think out loud and explain their reasoning as they work, which makes it much harder to rely on AI-generated answers without detection.
• Personalize Interview Questions: Avoid generic problems that can easily be solved by AI. Instead, use contextual, company-specific scenarios or exercises that require candidates to engage with real challenges your team faces.
• Monitor for Cheating Tools: Require candidates to share their entire screen, not just a single window, so interviewers can spot hidden AI tools, suspicious browser tabs, or overlays. Ask for a webcam sweep of the room to check for secondary devices or off-camera assistance.
• Limit Copy/Paste and Use Timers: Use coding platforms that restrict or monitor copy-paste actions and set timers to reduce the opportunity for candidates to look up or generate answers externally.
• Consider Neutral or Supervised Environments: For high-stakes roles, arrange interviews in neutral locations or use third-party invigilators to observe candidates and ensure they aren’t receiving outside help.

4. Organized and Malicious Fraud

Beyond individual cheating, there’s a growing threat of organized fraud, where candidates are intentionally placed in hiring processes to gather competitive intelligence or, in more serious cases, to gain access to sensitive information and potentially compromise company systems. Staying vigilant about how more candidates will be fake will help employers spot red flags on the candidate’s resume and suspicious behaviors during a video call.

5. Synthetic Profiles and Fake Credentials

Recruiters are also facing a surge in entirely fabricated candidate profiles, complete with fake degrees, certifications, and work histories. These synthetic profiles are often created using AI tools that generate convincing but false information, making it increasingly difficult to verify candidate authenticity without thorough background checks.

With these emerging tactics, recruiters must stay vigilant and adapt their processes to ensure they’re truly identifying and hiring genuine talent.

The Root Cause: Why More Candidates Will Be Fake into 2028

The dramatic rise in fake candidate applications can be traced to a convergence of economic pressures, technological advances, and shifts in the hiring landscape. As the job market in 2025 remains tough for entry-level talent and fiercely competitive for high-paying roles at major companies, candidates are increasingly motivated to seek any advantage they can get, even if it means resorting to deception. This heightened competition has fueled demand for tools and services that help applicants stand out, including those that enable or automate dishonest tactics.

At the same time, the rapid evolution and accessibility of AI-driven technologies have made it easier than ever for individuals and organized groups to fabricate convincing profiles, resumes, and even live interview performances.

Tools that generate synthetic identities, deepfake video and audio, and real-time AI prompting are now widely available and affordable, allowing bad actors to scale their efforts and bypass traditional screening methods. The shift toward remote and automated hiring processes, often designed for efficiency and speed, has created new vulnerabilities, making it harder for recruiters to distinguish genuine candidates from imposters.

This environment is setting the stage for an “arms race” between increasingly sophisticated candidate fraud tactics and employers’ efforts to detect and prevent them. As automation and human-free processes become more prevalent in recruiting, organizations must adapt quickly to stay ahead of evolving threats, otherwise, the signal will be lost in the noise of mass-produced, AI-powered fake applications. Currently, the best defense against onboarding fake candidates is to heavily vet candidates with human discernment. If available, having an IT expert to detect discrepancies like IP spoofing and fake IDs can also help a great deal.

Why Human-Based Recruiting Research and Sourcing Is Essential in Combating Candidate Fraud

As technology-driven hiring processes become more automated, the risk of fraudulent candidate applications, powered by AI, bots, and deepfake tools, continues to rise. While advanced software and biometric verification add important layers of defense, the most effective safeguard remains a hands-on, human-centered approach to recruiting. So, even if more candidates will be fake, you have the tools to dodge them.

Direct Human Verification

Human recruiters play a crucial role by personally reaching out to candidates, conducting live interviews, and verifying identities through real conversations. While more candidates will be fake as scammers multiply, direct engagement allows recruiters to assess non-verbal cues, clarify inconsistencies, and confirm that the person behind the application is genuine, not a bot or an impersonator.

Reference and Background Checks

Recruiters can independently verify employment history and references by contacting past employers and educational institutions, rather than relying solely on documents or digital profiles that can be easily fabricated. This step is especially important for roles where credentials and experience are critical.

Active Candidate Research

Human-based sourcing goes beyond resume review. Recruiters investigate candidates’ digital footprints, cross-checking social media presence, professional networks, and even conducting reverse image searches to ensure authenticity.

Adaptive Interviewing

Through live, unscripted conversations, whether in-person or via video, recruiters can ask probing questions, request real-time demonstrations of skills, and spot signs of coaching or AI-generated responses. This adaptability is something automated systems struggle to replicate.

Building Trust and Relationships

Personal interaction fosters a sense of accountability and transparency, deterring fraudulent actors who are less likely to engage when they know a real person is thoroughly vetting their application. There is no need to fear statistics about how more candidates will be fake if you stick to the foundational basics of building authentic, human relationships.

The Bottom Line

While technology is a valuable tool for efficiency and initial screening, it is the human touch, calling candidates, verifying details, and building authentic relationships, that ultimately ensures only real, qualified individuals make it through the hiring process. This approach not only protects organizations from fraud but also upholds the integrity and trust at the core of effective recruitment.

By 2028, 1 in 4 Candidates Will Be Fake. Find Qualified, Real Candidates with us.

As the recruitment landscape evolves, so do the tactics used by those seeking to exploit it. The rise of AI-powered fraud, deepfakes, and synthetic profiles presents real challenges for employers and recruiters, threatening to erode trust and efficiency in the hiring process. While automation and digital tools offer speed and scale, they can’t replace the discernment, intuition, and relationship-building that only human recruiters provide.

By doubling down on human-driven research, direct candidate verification, and adaptive interviewing, organizations can cut through the noise and ensure they’re hiring genuine, qualified talent. In a world where one in four candidate profiles could soon be fake, it’s the personal touch—thoughtful conversations, diligent reference checks, and authentic engagement—that will remain the gold standard for building great teams and safeguarding your company’s future. So, what if 1 in 4 candidates will be fake? With professionals on your side, you can still find the real deal hires. Give us a call today to find out how.