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Job search scams can cost applicants hundreds or thousands of dollars. But one fake job interview recently impacted over $6 billion in assets.
Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, announced on Tuesday it recently experienced a security breach impacting $6.34 billion in digital assets. The hack was enabled in part by a job seeker's nightmare: bogus job interviews.
While the Binance hackers had their sights set on a much bigger target than an individual job seeker, job-related scams are on the rise. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) tallied employment-related losses amounting to roughly $363 million in 2025, up sharply from $264 million the year prior, and $70 million in 2023. The actual figure is likely higher, since many victims of such crimes do not report them.
Those orchestrating fake job scams have many potential targets today "because the job search is taking so long for so many right now," says Stefanie Fackrell, a former recruiter at Google and Nvidia. While October's jobs report showed promise as the U.S. economy added 165,000 jobs, far more than expected, many applicants have been struggling through a low-hire, low-fire market for months.
"With today's job market, people are anxious, they're tired, many are at their wits' end," says Garber. "A proactive inquiry can be something you just immediately respond to without thinking."
Artificial intelligence can also make scams more widespread and harder to detect.
"Cyber scams in general are becoming much more sophisticated just because they're evolving at the same speed as AI and public access to AI," says Leeza Garber, a privacy and cybersecurity expert and adjunct law professor at Drexel University's Kline School of Law. "AI is going to make things seem more and more real."
In 2025, victims reported losses of almost $13 million to AI-involved employment scams, according to the IC3.
What happened in the Binance hack
Binance's announcement included an abbreviated play-by-play of how its hack went down. Fackrell and Garber broke down some of the warning signs in how the events unfolded, including what job seekers can learn from the incident.
What happened: A software engineer, who was not named, was contacted through "a legitimate job-hunting platform" by someone posing as a project director, Binance said in its announcement. That person arranged for the engineer to have an initial interview with a purported HR representative and a second-round interview with the supposed CEO of a fake company.
Experts' red flags: A headshot that's clearly AI-generated or otherwise looks uncanny, as well as sparse profile information or activity, and few connections should give you pause, Fackrell says. On LinkedIn, for example, you can click the three dots on a person's profile to open an "About this member" pop-up, where you can see when they joined LinkedIn and if they've verified their identity, workplace and school.
Though some small startups may arrange for an interview with a C-suite executive, it's generally unusual, particularly for a second-round interview, unless you'd be reporting to that person, she adds.
What happened: In the first round, the fake HR representative had a live video interview with the software engineer, even sharing with him a social media account with personal photos and videos to build trust, Binance said. The tactic was "more advanced and deceptive than previously seen social engineering approaches," Binance added in its announcement.
Experts' red flags: A recruiter might bring up commonalities with a candidate like the same alma mater or ex-employer to "bring that human element into the conversation," Fackrell says. But sharing personal social media in a first-round interview is strange, she adds.
In video interviews in general, some red flags might include the person moving unusually slowly or not responding to one of your questions, or their visual skipping a beat, Garber says.
What happened: The second-round interview with the purported CEO of the fake company was conducted on "a popular social chat app," Binance said, and the software engineer was instructed to download "an 'assignment' containing a malicious code repository onto his work computer."
Experts' red flags: Interviews commonly happen over Microsoft Teams, Zoom or Google Meet, not a social chat app. "I don't know anybody that's FaceTiming or WhatsApping any of their candidates," Fackrell says.
While take-home assignments, particularly for technical roles, may use third-party systems, don't download software if you're not familiar with it, Fackrell advises. These assignments should be shared via email through a legitimate system, not over the phone. Job seekers should take interviews on a personal device, not a work computer.
Tips to avoid job search scams
Common job search scams today include:
- A fake recruiter reaching out to someone about a position and asking for their resume, only to say their resume must be rewritten, for a fee, to be considered
- Extending a fake job offer and asking the recipient to pay for job equipment, including by cashing a fake check to cover it and sending back "excess" funds; or asking the recipient to provide sensitive information, such as ID, bank account details, or Social Security number
- Text messages offering jobs that seem too easy, such as being paid to like social media content or leave positive reviews, as scammers typically ask these workers for their own money down the line
Job sites like LinkedIn and Indeed, and entities like the Federal Trade Commission and Better Business Bureau, also have more information about common scams.
You should not have to provide sensitive information or payment in order to get a job, according to the FTC. Legitimate recruiters will reach out from their corporate email addresses, not a personal address. Other red flags include pressure to move quickly through the hiring process or seeing multiple typos in communications.
"Do your research before clicking, responding or engaging with anybody," Fackrell says.
Take a minute to think about how you were contacted and what you're being asked to do to proceed, Garber suggests, and cross-check job postings against the company's official careers page.
"If seems too good to be true, it definitely is," says Garber.
CNBC Select is editorially independent and may earn a commission from affiliate partners on links.
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