Job candidates are hiring people to do their interviews for them. We explain how the tactic, bait-and-switch fraud, works.

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Job candidates are hiring people to do their interviews for them. We explain how the tactic, bait-and-switch fraud, works.
Tyler Le/Insider

Welcome to Wednesday, readers. Reporting to you from New York, I'm Jordan Parker Erb.

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Today, my colleague Rob Price has an enlightening look at a new trend in job hunting: "bait-and-switch" interview fraud.

In short, candidates are hiring other people to pretend to be them for interviews. Then, on the first day of work, the real candidate shows up in place of the interviewee. It's a doozy of a story; Let's get started.

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1. Some job applicants have found a new way to cheat the system. Posturing on a résumé is one thing. But according to recruiters, employers, and job applicants, an increasing number of candidates are taking it a step further — by hiring stand-ins to pretend to be them, sit through job interviews, and land them the position.

  • As more and more companies conduct job interviews via video chat and hire employees who can work remotely, experts say it's easier than ever to pull off a bait and switch.
  • In many cases, the candidates who pull a bait and switch are underqualified — or flat out unqualified — for the job they're applying for. By hiring a proxy, they're able to land a job they would otherwise have no chance at.
  • The fraudulent interviews seem to be particularly widespread in IT fields, which can result in unqualified hires having access to critical infrastructure. In other industries, typically lower-level jobs — or people doing "things you can get away with googling for a while," one recruiter said.

How bait-and-switch job fraud works.


Ever been bait-and-switched by a new hire? Or paid someone to do a job interview for you? Contact my colleague, Rob Price, by email at rprice@insider.com, or on Twitter at @robaeprice.


In other news:

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Job candidates are hiring people to do their interviews for them. We explain how the tactic, bait-and-switch fraud, works.
Ramin Talaie/Getty Images; Mike Blake/Reuters; Savanna Durr/Alyssa Powell/Insider

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6. A former Times Square street vendor switched careers by learning to code. Devin Jackson, a vendor turned software engineer, used free resources to break into tech — and now runs a nonprofit that helps Black New Yorkers land high-paying jobs in the industry. Inside his nonprofit, We Build Black.

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7. NASA's administrator said everybody "poo-pooed" SpaceX — but it's outperformed Boeing. Bill Nelson said critics dismissed SpaceX when it was up against Boeing, but Elon Musk's company has actually achieved more. Here's what else he said.

8. Patreon is laying off around 17% of its workforce. A blog post from CEO Jack Conte said the company is cutting 80 positions from operations, finance and other departments. It comes almost a week after Patreon laid off employees on its security team.


Odds and ends:

Job candidates are hiring people to do their interviews for them. We explain how the tactic, bait-and-switch fraud, works.
Image of the Orion NebulaNASA, ESA, CSA, PDRs4All ERS Team; image processing Olivier Berné.

9. The James Webb telescope captured stunning photos of the Orion Nebula. The photos show the nebula, a star nursery 1,350 light-years from Earth, in more detail than ever before. Scientists have been waiting on these images for years — get a look at them here.

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10. Self-driving taxis could be coming to a city near you. GM's Cruise, a robotaxi startup, plans to expand its service to Phoenix and Austin within 90 days, following its launch in San Francisco earlier this year. What we know so far.


What we're watching today:


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Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email jerb@insider.com or tweet @jordanparkererb.) Edited by Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.

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