Guides · Updated October 4, 2026
Fake candidates and remote hiring fraud: what employers should know
The short answer
Some remote job applicants are not who they claim to be. Candidates use AI to answer interview questions in real time, stand-ins take interviews for someone else, and organized schemes, including ones the FBI has linked to North Korea, use stolen identities to get hired and reach company systems. Checking identity at more than one point, on live video and in the Form I-9 process, stops most of it.
What it looks like
- A candidate who keeps the camera off, has poor video at the moments that matter, or pauses before every answer as if reading.
- Answers that are fluent but generic, and that fall apart on a follow-up question about their own experience.
- A different-looking person at onboarding than at the interview.
- A request to ship the company laptop to a different address than the one on file, or to be paid in an unusual way.
Why it matters
A fraudulent hire receives a laptop, a login and access to company systems and data. Federal agencies have warned that some of these workers send their pay abroad, and in some cases take data and demand payment for it. The cost is far larger than one bad hire.
Checks that work
- Hold at least one interview on live video with the camera on, and ask follow-up questions about specific things on the résumé.
- Check identity documents against the person, and complete the Form I-9 document check properly: the documents must be examined, physically or by the federal alternative procedure available to E-Verify employers.
- Ship equipment only to a verified address, and treat a last-minute change of address as a warning sign.
- Give new remote hires the access they need for the first weeks, not everything at once.
- Write these steps into your hiring policy so every manager follows them, not only the careful ones.
Sources
This guide is general information for U.S. employers, not legal advice. Standard Practice is not a law firm. Laws change and depend on where your employees work; take advice from employment counsel on your own situation.