Remote work has opened up untapped global sources of talent and offered individuals greater flexibility in their work and lives. Unfortunately, it has also ushered in new ways for unscrupulous individuals or agencies to take advantage of the high demand for skilled workers by fraudulently placing unqualified contract workers. Remote work is often accompanied by online interviewing, where the candidates are never evaluated in person. This article is the first of several that examines some of the scams that we have encountered in the course of evaluating tens of thousands of job applicants. The majority of applicants are straightforward and honest, but a significant minority or their agents have turned technical recruiting into a viper’s nest.
The motivation for this trickery are the lofty rates that can be charged to a duped company — from $10,000 to $20,000 or more per month for a contractor. Even if the contractor is incapable of performing the job, it may take months to discover this, especially in specialized technical roles or if there is a long ramp up time before the worker can be expected to produce measurable results (such as in business development or sales roles). During that time, the agency or contractor books billable time for no useful work. Once discovered, of course the contractor can be discharged promptly (though usually subject to an…