I suspected a candidate was fraudulent, so I set out to prove it and confronted the person he was pretending to be

I have written about fake resumes and fraudulent candidates before, but the volume is increasing by the day.

A few months ago, I shared that my ATS flagged a pattern: three different resumes, in different cities, all sharing the same phone number within a five-month period. Another common trait was that none of those candidates had LinkedIn profiles.

Let me be clear: I am not talking about AI-generated resumes or tailoring resumes to fit a job. I am talking about identity theft and impersonation.

Last week, I interviewed a candidate. I will call him “Peter Bryant” for anonymity.

On paper, he was perfect. I even told my client, “He’s too perfect not to interview.” So we did.

Then the red flags started.

His phone number had a strange ring tone, like a VoIP number, something anyone can use to fake their location.

I have also started asking candidates for their LinkedIn profiles as a standard step. I asked him to add me. When he did, I noticed he had one connection. Me.

Another red flag, and one I hesitate to even mention, was his surname. The name he was using (again, “Bryant” is not the real name) is of Scottish origin, while he was clearly of Asian descent. Is it possible for someone to have a Scottish last name regardless of background? Absolutely. On its own, it means nothing. But combined with the other inconsistencies and red flags, it added to the overall concern.

Then last night, when I tried to call him to schedule a second interview, the VoIP number was disconnected. I emailed him. This morning, the number was suddenly working again.

Too many things were not adding up.

So I did what any cautious recruiter would do. I checked his last employer’s LinkedIn page, found a first-degree connection of mine, and asked for a simple employment verification.

This morning, I got the confirmation:

They did employ someone named “Peter Bryant.” 
 But it was not the person whose resume and LinkedIn profile I had.

Next, I found the real Peter Bryant’s LinkedIn profile and it was immediately obvious what had happened. The profiles were a 98 percent match. Same experience. Same companies. Same education. The only differences were minor date changes, adjusting timelines to make himself appear younger by shifting graduation years slightly.

The difference? The real Peter had a photo, 500+ connections, and years of visible activity.

Someone had clearly copied his identity.

I informed my contact in HR and suggested they notify the real person. She did, and looped me in. I also let them know I had already scheduled a call with the fake candidate today (January 27th) at 1 pm PST and he asked to join. 

So there I was, on a video call with the person I labelled “The Peter Bryant I am interviewing” and the “Real Peter Bryant,” just to avoid confusion.

I asked the fake candidate for his real name so we could differentiate. He refused.

I let the real Peter speak to him directly. He said, “I’m flattered you chose me,” and pointed out that he is not even a backend engineer. His actual skill set is frontend engineering.

When asked why he did it, the fake candidate would not answer.

The real Peter said, “I assume you are trying to get hired by multiple companies, farm the work out overseas, and get paid by multiple employers.”

That is when it clicked.

I remembered the case of Soham Parekh, who worked at multiple Silicon Valley startups at the same time.

So here we are in 2026, with AI tools aplenty, I now get to add “Identify fake candidates” to my list of priorities. 

Fraudulent candidates, identity cloning, and resume impersonation are becoming part of the recruiting landscape. 

Verification is the only method of validation.  Fake Peter would have been found out once we conducted the required background checks.  

So how do we adjust? I know I will become increasingly skeptical of the “perfect resume.”

After our video call, we exchanged text messages. This was his explanation

"I am real _____ _________ with not enough experience
 But I am confident with passing php and node tech stacks 
 So I find someone who named same with me and lend his info for a moment"