Recruiter impersonation scam
Fake Stacy1 / 21
How it all started
Meet Fake Stacy.
I'm Stacy Zapar, a recruiter, trainer, consultant and speaker. Founder of Tenfold and Fraud Squad, a community for TA practitioners to fight candidate fraud.
About a year ago, several Fake Stacy accounts started sending recruiting messages using my name and LinkedIn profile to scam jobseekers.
Recruiter impersonation2 / 21
tenfold.
Identity theft
They stole the real stuff.
Fake Stacy stole my name, my business name and logo, my company website, my LinkedIn profile URL, and personal contact details for their email signatures.
The only fake thing is the email address. And the person behind it all, of course.
Stolen identity3 / 21
None of these are me
Their emails come from these addresses and more:
stacyzapar.talent@gmail.com
zaparstacydonovan@gmail.com
stacydonovanzaparhiringibm@gmail.com
stacydonovanzapar@gmail.com
stacydonovanzaper@gmail.com
Yes, they misspelled my last name as Zaper instead of Zapar. (Typos like this are quite common with these scammers.) Multiple reports to Google have done nothing to shut down these accounts.
None of these emails are from me. If you got one, you were targeted.
Known impostor emails4 / 21
The inbox impact
Jobseekers started messaging the real me.
After receiving scam messages from Fake Stacy, skeptical jobseekers started messaging me on LinkedIn to ask if the opportunity was legitimate.
I put a fraud alert at the top of my LinkedIn About section. It helped, but I was still getting contacted multiple times weekly.
LinkedIn warnings5 / 21
Reputation damage
Then a scam target publicly called me out.
One jobseeker target wrote a whole LinkedIn post with screenshots warning others that Stacy Donovan Zapar is a scammer.
To my horror, many commenters had also interacted with Fake Stacy. And, rightfully so, they’re angry.
Now my name and reputation are being impacted on top of the damage to jobseekers.
Public fallout6 / 21
Not a random blast
Fake Stacy is not fishing blind.
Many victims were messaged within minutes of activating the #OpenToWork frame on LinkedIn.
That means these scammers almost certainly have LinkedIn Recruiter accounts, giving them real-time visibility into jobseekers who are actively looking.
They are targeting people at their most vulnerable moment.
Targeted jobseekers7 / 21
Trust signal problem
There is one more thing that needs addressing.
LinkedIn uses Recruiter licenses to verify identity. Think about that.
Any scammer who purchases a Recruiter seat is not only buying access to jobseekers, they're also buying a verification badge.
The same feature meant to signal trust is being used to manufacture it. This is a gap that needs closing.
Verification gap8 / 21
How the scam starts
The recruiting message looks completely legitimate.
Fake Stacy contacts a jobseeker about a job opportunity. The email uses my real name and links to my real LinkedIn profile.
The job title or company is often completely made up, but the target has no reason to question it.
The setup9 / 21
Sneaky sender trick
The fake email may hide in the name field.
Instead of putting a first and last name in Gmail's name field, scammers may put the real corporate email address to deceive you.
Name field
recruiter.name@company.com
Actual email
recruiter.name@gmail.com
At first glance, it looks like a corporate email but it's really a Gmail in disguise.
Name field ruse10 / 21
Step 1TrustData
Get the resume.
Fake Stacy asks for a resume to submit to the hiring team. This is data collection.
- Full name and contact info
- Employment history
- Address and references
- Enough detail to build a profile
They have not asked for money yet; they're building trust first.
Data collection11 / 21
Step 2UrgencyFlattery
Manufacture urgency and excitement.
“Great news. The leadership team reviewed your profile and the feedback was very positive.”
No company name. No hiring manager name. Just enough detail to feel real and enough flattery to keep you engaged.
Emotional manipulation12 / 21
Step 3Fake process
Invent a reason you need to pay.
To “advance to the interview stage,” Fake Stacy says the hiring panel requires three documents:
- Targeted Cover Letter
- Leadership Impact Brief
- Executive SWOT Assessment
You have never heard of these and that's intentional. They sound official, but are not.
Fake requirements13 / 21
Step 4Payment
Ask for money.
Fake Stacy sends a payment link to “complete” the process.
- PayPal
- Zelle, Venmo, WhatsApp
- Gift cards or crypto
Fake Stacy writes the amount as $4O0, with a letter O instead of a zero, to bypass fraud filters.
No legit recruiter ever needs payment from a candidate. Doesn't happen.
The ask14 / 21
The trap
They turn verification into false security.
If you raise questions or show skepticism, Fake Stacy may encourage you to send the real me an invite to connect on LinkedIn, knowing it will cause you to let down your guard and assume they are legit.
But this is where things speed up. They have to close the deal before you see my profile warning or get a message back from me.
That is the trap.
Real profile, fake sender15 / 21
After payment
Then Fake Stacy goes quiet.
The job never existed. The recruiter was never real. The document service was all a ruse.
You are out $400 and your personal info is now in Fake Stacy’s hands, possibly being used by fake candidates in their fraud ring to apply for jobs as a catfish version of you.
After payment16 / 21
Job scam recruiters
Red Flags: The Big Five
01
Wrong email.The address doesn’t match the company domain.
02
Missing job post.You can’t find the role on their careers page.
03
No recruiter screen.Real hiring never skips the recruiter conversation.
04
Candidate payment.No legitimate recruiter ever charges a candidate. Ever.
05
Weird wording.Typos and odd phrasing are intentional, not accidental.
If any of these happen, immediately pause. This is almost certainly a scam.
Red flags17 / 21
What to do
What to do if Fake Stacy or another impostor recruiter contacts you.
- Flag the message as phishing in your email client
- Notify the real recruiter so they can warn others and add the impersonator to The Catfish List
- Report the scam to the FTC, IC3, and LinkedIn Help
Report and verify18 / 21
Might Be Fake
Announcing the Catfish List
After seeing so many recruiters and jobseekers go through this day after day, I decided to build a free lookup list of known recruiting impostors (aka catfish).
Jobseekers can search it directly or just google a suspicious email address. If it's on the list, it'll take them to the Might Be Fake page to warn them.
Enough already. Let's shut it down.
The Catfish List19 / 21
Join the movement
Tired of scammers eroding trust in hiring?
Join the Fraud Squad, a practitioner community for recruiting professionals fighting back against candidate fraud.
Fraud Squad20 / 21
Tenfold
Candidate fraud thrives because it caught recruiting off guard.
We never needed authentication skills before and now they're table stakes. Tenfold helps recruiting teams build the skills and processes to stay one step ahead.
Fight fraud. Restore trust.21 / 21