What HR Teams Are Seeing When It Comes to Candidate Fraud
The wrong person, or an entirely fabricated individual showing up for an interview (aka Candidate fraud) is no longer a theoretical problem. Fake candidates are showing up in real hiring processes more often every day, and usually in ways that teams aren’t fully equipped to catch.
During a recent Proof webinar hosted in partnership with SHRM, we asked hundreds of HR professionals a series of live poll questions about candidate fraud, identity verification, and how confident they were in their current hiring controls. Responses came directly from practitioners responsible for recruiting, hiring, and talent operations across a wide range of industries, geographies, and company sizes.
What these individuals shared paints a clear picture — candidate fraud is already happening — but most teams aren’t verifying candidate identities until they’ve already decided to hire someone. And confidence in detecting AI-powered deepfakes is far lower than most organizations would like to admit.
Candidate fraud is already part of the hiring reality
One of the clearest signals from the survey was how common candidate fraud has become.
More than 40% of respondents said they have either confirmed or highly suspected cases of candidate identity fraud in the past 12 months. These cases include deepfake interviews, stand-ins appearing on calls, or stolen identities being used to apply for roles.
This number matters because it helps reframe the problem. Candidate fraud is not something HR teams are preparing for… someday. It’s something that many teams are already encountering, even if they don’t have formal processes to address it yet.
At the same time, a significant portion of respondents (35%) said they haven’t experienced candidate fraud yet, but they’re concerned about it. Looking at these figures together suggests that there’s a growing awareness paired with uncertainty about what to do next.
Awareness has not translated into prevention yet
Despite widespread concern, our polling revealed a major gap between recognizing risk and acting to prevent it.
More than eighty percent (80%) of respondents said they don’t perform any form of identity verification before extending an offer. In practice, that means most organizations are making hiring decisions without confirming that the person they evaluated is the same individual who will ultimately be onboarded.
This gap is not the result of negligence. For decades, identity checks in hiring processes have been treated as background screening formalities that happened later, often after an offer was accepted. But the wasted resources, and risk of hiring fake candidates, means that verifying candidate identities can’t wait until onboarding. Candidate fraud exploits the assumptions that teams make earlier in the process, when identity is implied rather than inferred.
The result is a hiring workflow that appears thorough on paper, but leaves room for impersonation at critical moments.
Confidence is low when it comes to detecting AI-driven fraud
Another poll question asked respondents how confident they are that their existing hiring process would catch an AI-generated fake candidate.
Only a small percentage (15.3%) said they are extremely confident. Most described themselves as only somewhat confident, and a meaningful group said they are not confident at all.
That lack of confidence is telling. It suggests many teams understand that resume reviews, video interviews, and manual checks are no longer sufficient to catch increasingly sophisticated fraud tactics. As AI-generated identities and deepfakes become more convincing, relying on intuition or visual cues becomes riskier.
Confidence drops when tools aren’t designed to address modern threats.
The questions HR leaders are asking point to practical needs
During the webinar, the live chat and Q&A added important context to the poll results.
Attendees asked how identity verification integrates with ATS platforms, where it fits into existing hiring workflows, and whether viewing IDs could create compliance or discrimination concerns. Others expressed that digital identity concepts felt overly technical or difficult to translate into day-to-day hiring practices.
Those questions point to a shared reality. HR teams know the risk is real, and that they need solutions which are aligned with how hiring actually works. That means identity verification solutions that are integrated, explainable, and respectful of both candidates and compliance requirements.
What these insights mean for HR teams
Candidate fraud is already present in hiring processes. Most teams are not verifying candidate identities before making an offer. Confidence in detecting AI-driven impersonation is limited. And existing hiring processes were not built to prevent candidate identity fraud.
For HR leaders, the takeaway is not to overhaul hiring overnight or introduce unnecessary friction. It is to recognize that trust in hiring now requires identity verification at specific points throughout the process. Teams that address this gap are not just reducing fraud risk. They’re protecting recruiter time, safeguarding access to systems, and preserving trust in their hiring process for legitimate candidates.
Candidate fraud is evolving quickly. Hiring practices must evolve with it.
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