Fake recruiters. Real Scams: The Dark Side of Job Search on LinkedIn
- Oct 21
- 2 min read
Is there anything more disgusting than taking advantage of another human being when they’re at their most vulnerable? Especially when they’re job seeking.
That’s exactly what’s happening - and it’s happening right here on LinkedIn.
After Friday’s Job Seeker Café, a member of our Talentology AU IT Talent Community shared their experience.
They’d been approached by a recruiter named 'Eloise' claiming to “help professionals connect with opportunities.”
All seemed fine - until the recruiter asked for their resume.
A few minutes later came this:
“Please allow me a few minutes to run your resume through our advanced ATS, CMS and DRT scanning tools.”
Sounds impressive, right?
Except “Dynamic Radiant Techniques” doesn’t exist. It’s made-up jargon designed to sound legitimate.
Then came the real motive:
“Your resume scored 21% out of 100%. I work with a specialist who can fix this for you.”
Followed by - you guessed it - a Fiverr link.
This isn’t recruitment.
This is a scam designed to exploit job seekers.
Fake recruiters. Fake ATS reports. Real people being manipulated while trying to rebuild their careers.
And here’s something even more concerning - it looks like the LinkedIn profile being used in this case may have been hijacked.
I’ve personally seen this several times before: real profiles taken over or cloned, then used by scammers to appear credible and target job seekers.
So how can you to be vigilant and protect yourself from these types of scams?
• Check the recruiter’s profile. Do they look like a recruiter? Are they based in Australia? Do they have connections, followers, or a visible network?
• Check their email address. If they’re using a @gmail.com, @outlook.com, or @hotmail.com address - red flag.
• Ask the recruiter for the client and role before sending your resume.
• Never pay a recruiter for resume advice.
• Ignore “ATS scores” and “algorithmic scans.” They’re bait.
• If they send you a Fiverr or Upwork link - block and report immediately.
At Talentology, we’ll keep calling this behaviour out.
PS, I'm not suggesting that genuine recruiters, LinkedIn, Fiverr or Upwork are directly involved in these scams, but scammers are using these platforms to scam job seekers.