
Applicant Fraud and How to Detect Fake Candidates
From Time to Hire by Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association (RPOA)
February 27, 2026 · 35 min · Episode 51
About this episode
The episode discusses the rising issue of applicant fraud in talent acquisition and the challenges recruiters face in verifying candidate credibility amidst the use of AI tools.
Applicant fraud is no longer a fringe issue—it’s becoming a structural risk in talent acquisition. As AI tools make it easier to fabricate resumes, manipulate interviews, and even generate synthetic identities, recruiters face mounting pressure to verify credibility without sacrificing candidate experience. Gartner projects that by 2028, 25% of job candidates globally could be fake (Gartner, 2023), signaling a major shift in how organizations must approach hiring governance and risk mitigatio...
Topics covered
- applicant fraud
- talent acquisition
- AI in recruitment
- candidate verification
- hiring governance
- risk mitigation
Keywords
- applicant fraud
- fake candidates
- resume fabrication
- interview manipulation
- synthetic identities
- candidate experience
- hiring risks
- Gartner 2028 projection
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Gartner
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