Let me set the scene. I'm three months into a job search. Not panicking, but not exactly serene either. I've been sending thoughtful applications into the void, doing all the right things, staying positive. Then, on a Tuesday evening, an email arrives from a Senior Recruiter at a company I used to work for, a company I loved. A role that would have meant moving back to a city where friends and family are. A role that fit my experience like a glove.
Reader, I was elated.
What followed was two days of careful, professional email exchanges: résumé sent, thoughtful cover note written, and - because I wanted to show I'd really done my homework - a full Leadership Strategic Plan built as a custom website. Interactive. Designed. The works.
The recruiter was a bot. The whole thing was a scam. And I only figured it out after I'd already done more work than most people do for actual interviews.
So here, in the interest of saving you from the same slow-motion embarrassment, is exactly how it happened, and exactly what to look for.
Act I: The Perfect Pitch
The initial email looked immaculate. Professional signature, a headshot, the company logo, a LinkedIn icon. It came from someone claiming to be a Senior Technical Recruiter at a company with a real, active presence in my industry. The message was brief and flattering: my background had stood out during a "market review," and they were conducting a "confidential search" for a Principal Product Design role.
Hello Kyle, I'm ████████, Senior Recruiter with ████████████. I'm currently leading a confidential search to hire a Principal Product Design role, and your background stood out during our market review.
If you're open to hearing more about the opportunity, I'd be happy to share the role details.
Best regards,
████████
The email address is a Gmail. A Senior Recruiter at a Fortune 50 company writes from their corporate domain. Always.
I missed it. In fairness, I was excited. This was a company I'd genuinely enjoyed working for, and the role description that came next was eerily well-matched to my background. I responded enthusiastically. The bot wrote back within minutes, every time, no matter the hour.
(That's the thing about bots. They have excellent response times.)
Act II: The Over-Achiever's Downfall
After I said I was interested, "the recruiter" asked me to send two documents: my résumé, and something called a "Leadership Strategic Plan 2026." I'd never heard of this document type, and the bot helpfully explained it was how senior candidates demonstrate their leadership vision.
Rather than Googling whether this was real (it is not a standard document), I decided to go above and beyond. I built a website. An actual, designed, interactive site presenting my leadership philosophy and strategy. I was so primed to impress that I did the scammer's homework for them.
"I was so excited that I accidentally went above and beyond for a robot."
I sent the files. I sent a second email with refinements. I was, by any measure, a model candidate: for a job that did not exist, interviewing with a person who did not exist, for a company that had no idea any of this was happening.
Act III: The Ask
After I submitted my materials, the tone shifted. Suddenly, my documents "didn't align with leadership expectations" and "weren't scannable for review." The solution? An Executive Document Specialist who could help me build a "Workforce Leadership Plan 2026," for somewhere between $100 and $300.
Hi Kyle, we'd love to move forward with you, but your document doesn't align with our leadership expectations and wasn't scannable for review. WLP Plan shows where you're going and why the company should hire you.
Most candidates don't build this on their own. It usually takes someone who understands how to position senior leaders for these kinds of conversations.
We work with an Executive Document Specialist who helps candidates at this level put together a Workforce Leadership Plan 2026 and make sure all their documents present a clear, strong and align with WLP.
Would you like me to connect you with her?
No legitimate recruiter will ever ask you to pay for document services as a condition of moving forward. This is the scam.
This is where the spell broke. Something about the pivot felt off: the vague jargon, the invented document category, the gentle pressure. I went back and looked at the email address for the first time, really looked at it: ████████@gmail.com.
A Fortune 50 company does not run its recruiting out of Gmail.
I looked up the real recruiter on LinkedIn. She exists. She works at that company. She has never heard of me. I reached out to let her know someone was using her name and photo to run a scam, because that felt like the least I could do for a stranger whose identity had been stolen by a piece of software.
She was not thrilled. Understandably.
Why It Worked (On Me, At Least)
This scam didn't succeed (I didn't pay anything), but it came closer than I'd like to admit. Here's why it was effective:
Emotional targeting. This wasn't a random phishing blast. The scam was tailored to people actively job searching, at companies they had history with, for roles that matched their profiles. That's not an accident. The vulnerability window was real and the bot walked right through it.
Credibility theater. The email signature was beautiful. Professional headshot, company logo, LinkedIn icon, proper title. It had all the visual signals of legitimacy. None of them cost anything to fake.
Responsive pacing. The bot replied quickly and professionally at every step, which mimicked the rhythm of a real recruiter who's excited about a candidate. The faster the back-and-forth, the less time you have to stop and question it.
The invented document trap. By asking for something nonstandard - a "Leadership Strategic Plan" - the bot established that it had insider knowledge of executive hiring norms. It made me feel like I was being let into a process I wasn't familiar with, rather than scammed.
The Red Flags (Annotated, for Posterity)
What to look for before you respond
- The email is from a free domain (Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook) rather than the company's actual domain.
- The role is described as a "confidential search" - a real phrase that also happens to be easy cover for why the role can't be verified on the company's careers page.
- Replies come unusually fast, at all hours, with no variation in tone. Real humans are inconsistent. Bots are not.
- You're asked to submit documents you've never heard of ("Leadership Strategic Plan 2026," "Workforce Leadership Plan") before any phone call or formal interview.
- After you submit materials, there's sudden friction: your documents "don't align," and a paid third-party specialist is conveniently available to fix them.
How to Verify a Recruiter in 60 Seconds
Before you send anything, do this
- 1Check the email domain. It should match the company website exactly.
- 2Search the recruiter's name on LinkedIn. Do they exist? Do they work at that company? Does their profile look real (connections, history, activity)?
- 3Go to the company's official careers page and search for the role. "Confidential" searches don't exist; they're either posted or they're not.
- 4Email or LinkedIn-message the recruiter directly using contact info you found yourself, not the info in the suspicious email. Ask if they sent it.
- 5If a phone call has never been mentioned, ask for one. A bot will deflect. A human will schedule it.
Where to Report It
If you've encountered a scam like this, report it. It takes five minutes and it genuinely helps:
I never did find out what happens if you pay for the "Executive Document Specialist." Probably nothing good. I did get a nice website out of it, though - even if the only person who appreciated it was a chatbot pretending to be a recruiter from South Carolina.