As social media platforms have become synonymous with daily communication, so have platforms that scrape open sources or have loads of fake accounts used to infiltrate cyberspace: whether that be for social engineering, spear-phishing, or targeting. Unfortunately, that means that recruiting DoD / IC personnel has also become harder, because fake accounts online make security cleared professionals (rightfully) cautious or completely waste a recruiter’s time when they are cold messaging.
Whether it be North Koreans targeting defense professionals by posing as U.S. and European defense industry personnel, or fake LinkedIn recruiters trying to nab a security clearance holder personal data, playing on an open source platform comes with its risks.
But has it given the cleared recruiting process more hurdles that it certainly doesn’t need?
FAKE CANDIDATE ACCOUNTS ON LINKEDIN
When you get a LinkedIn connection request from a stranger, the first thing you do is inspect their profile. Fake profiles can have several hundred connections, skill endorsements, a ‘real’ looking photo, and be attached to a company.
I decided to do a survey of my own recruiting and staffing connections to see what their experience was on the platform, whether they use the regular (free) version, or pay for the higher-level business, recruiter, recruiter lite, etc. tiers.
The results? Pretty much across the board, with no outliers, which leads me to assume that it is a complicated problem that is not easily tackled. Or recruiters are just making their best guesses and have no idea how many fake accounts they are running into.
Some believed recruiting to be more difficult while others weren’t phased, and some recruiters reported running into fake profiles while others didn’t. Clear as mud.
Cyber espionage and these fake profiles have been an ongoing problem for LinkedIn: people creating fake profiles, tying themselves to real companies to get personal information, solicit money, or target IC personnel.
HOW TO SPOT A FAKE PROFILE
Take every interaction with a grain of salt, do your research, and source candidates form reliable databases that have minimized the risk associated with fake users (i.e. ClearanceJobs for security-cleared candidates).
But if you must operate/recruit on the open source, here are a few things that could help you spot a fake profile:
1. Poor spelling or grammar.
A few mistakes are totally human, but if it is a consistent theme within their profile and some of their recent activity or posting history, it could mean it is a fake profile or spammer.
2. Receiving multiple invites from employees in the same company.
If you receive an unusual number of invitations from employees in the same company out of the blue, this could be a sign of targeting. These could be household names like companies such as Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, etc.
3. Out of place profile photos.
Images are an easy way to spot those fake LinkedIn accounts. If you believe it’s a stock photo, you can search it with Google search by image. This will quickly tell you if the picture has been used elsewhere online.
4. Lack of real personal information or details.
Something across the board between fake LinkedIn accounts is the lack of real personal information about that individual. These could be generic statements that lack detail such as title, goals, industry, etc. An example could be a headline that says, ‘looing for job’ (typo is intentional) coupled with a celebrity photo of Walker Texas Ranger. And maybe 3 connections: more on that later.
5. Beware of the LION’s roar.
A L.I.O.N. aka ‘LinkedIn Open Networker’ means that they will connect with anyone, which could include spammers, fake accounts, or unknown adversaries. These people have a low-quality network anyway, so I would recommend declining.
6. Limited Connections
Every week, I approve users for the Security Clearance Jobs LinkedIn group. If a profile looks suspicious or resembles a bot, I’ll leave it in pending for a couple weeks to a month to see if anything changes. If their connections don’t, I usually decline it.
Common Sense Needed In Spotting Fake LinkedIn Accounts
One of these alone may not mean it’s a fake profile posing as a candidate. But overall, use common sense. If evaluating these factors when you’re reaching out to candidates on LinkedIn seems like a waste of your precious recruiting time… it could mean that it is and you should be using more credible sources to recruit for your programs.
THE CLEARED RECRUITING CHRONICLES: YOUR WEEKLY DoD RECRUITING TIPS TO OUT COMPETE THE NEXT NATIONAL SECURITY STAFFER.
