Scammers using AI to apply for jobs, infiltrate companies

Increase in deepfake job applicants

Ai is now threatening the security and hiring process for businesses and job seekers nationwide. FOX 26 Consumer Reporter Heather Sullivan shows what you need to know to avoid this scam.

HOUSTON - One of the fastest-growing scams using AI is something you might not expect. It's threatening security and the hiring process for businesses and jobseekers nationwide.

AI scammers applying for jobs

The growth of virtual communication has made it common for people to interview for jobs and work remotely, but scammers know it. They're creating avatars with AI to apply for jobs and defraud companies.

It happened at Vidoc Security Lab, an AI and cybersecurity company that says it protects companies from data breaches by automatically detecting and fixing code vulnerabilities. Vidoc co-founder and CTO Dawid Moczadlo became suspicious that he was interviewing a job candidate who was really a deepfake.

"Can you take your hand and put it in front of your face?" he asked a job candidate during a virtual job interview in a video that he shared with us.  

"I knew that if you partially occlude the face, the filter will most probably break," Moczadlo explained to us. The candidate only raised his hand next to his face. "The fake candidate knew it as well. That is why he didn’t do it," Moczadlo said.

Vidoc Security Lab is far from alone. When they shared the video of the deepfake job candidate on socia media, it went viral as other businesses reported experiencing deepfake applicants as well.

What we know:

"Seventeen percent of hiring managers have spotted deepfakes while interviewing candidates, and it's expected in the next year, that one in four applicants are going to be fake. So this problem is growing really quickly," said Brian Long with Adaptive Security.

The Justice Department reported last year that more than 300 U.S. companies unknowingly filled remote IT jobs with deepfakes tied to North Korea.

"All you need is one single image of the person and three seconds of audio," said Long.

Experts at Adaptive Security used AI to create a deepfake video of me interviewing for a job.

"I've been following your work in modern AI advancements, and I'm drawn to the way your team blends innovative technology with your focus on real world impact," my avatar said.

You might be wondering why a scammer would apply for a job? Because when they're onboarded into the company's system, they can steal information, or shut the company out for ransom.  

"And say, hey, give me a lot of money, otherwise I'm going to take down your system or expose all of your information," elaborated Long.

Avoiding AI scams in the workforce

What you can do:

So what can companies do to protect themselves? For one, interview candidates in person when they can.

On virtual interviews, they should look for signs, like blurred edges around a face, or someone's lips and voice not synching up, and ask unexpected questions.

"Ok, you claim you studied at university in a given city. Can you tell us more about your favorite café?" suggested Klaudia Kloc, Vidoc Security Lab co-founder and CEO.

Job candidates interviewing virtually should be prepared to be asked to do some unexpected things to prove that you're human. Human resource officers say they've already started asking candidates to do things like whistle, sing a few notes, get up and move around, or even dance a little, because AI avatars can't keep up with a human performing those tasks…yet.