Fake job and onboarding scams: a growing risk

Fake job and onboarding scams are escalating rapidly, exposing workers and employers in the transport industry to financial loss, identity theft and cyber intrusion. Thanks to advances in artificial intelligence (AI), writes CHARLEEN CLARKE, these scams are becoming more convincing – and more difficult to detect.

Themba, a truck driver from Cape Town, was thrilled to see an email pop up in his inbox. Despite the fact that he had his Code 14 – and an excellent safety record – he had been battling to secure employment. Finally! He had landed a job! He was over the moon.

He was about to click on the link, which confirmed the offer of employment. But then he realised that he had never actually applied for a job at this particular transport operator…

According to Impact Newswire, similar incidents are becoming increasingly common worldwide. Criminals are targeting job seekers and employees with sophisticated fake job offers and onboarding schemes that imitate legitimate recruitment processes. Victims are guided through realistic interviews, documentation steps and onboarding procedures designed to collect personal information, identity documents, banking details or payments for supposed “training” or equipment.

The scale of the problem is significant: according to BankInfoSecurity.com, the Global Anti-Scam Alliance’s 2025 report found that 57% of adults experienced an online scam in the past year, with 23% reporting financial losses. In a company of 5,000 employees, this could mean thousands of workers exposed to phishing attempts and potentially hundreds of compromised devices connected to corporate systems.

Authorities are increasingly warning about the trend. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), among other agencies, has issued alerts highlighting the growing use of fake recruitment campaigns to harvest personal data and gain access to corporate networks.

From an occupational health and safety perspective, the consequences extend beyond financial losses. Employees who fall victim may experience psychological stress, financial hardship and identity theft, while malicious software distributed during fake onboarding processes can compromise organisational systems, disrupt operations and create broader safety and operational risks. The expansion of remote work, digital recruitment and online onboarding has further widened opportunities for criminals to exploit workers and companies alike.

AI raises the stakes

AI is accelerating the sophistication and scale of recruitment scams. Generative AI tools allow criminals to produce professional-quality job advertisements, emails, employment contracts and onboarding documents within seconds – often tailored to specific companies or industries. By eliminating the spelling errors and formatting inconsistencies that once revealed fraudulent messages, AI-generated content makes scams appear far more legitimate.

AI is also enabling highly personalised social-engineering attacks. Scammers can analyse publicly available information on professional networking platforms and social media to craft targeted messages referencing a victim’s experience, qualifications or recent job searches. In some cases, AI-powered chatbots conduct realistic interview conversations with multiple victims simultaneously, while more advanced groups are experimenting with voice-cloning and synthetic video technologies to impersonate recruiters or hiring managers during virtual interviews.

What companies can do

Despite the growing threat, transport operators can reduce risk through stronger recruitment verification processes and employee awareness programmes. Ensuring that all hiring communications occur through verified corporate channels, implementing clear onboarding procedures and strengthening identity-verification controls can significantly limit exposure. Training employees and job applicants to recognise scam warning signs is also becoming an essential component of workplace safety strategies.

As recruitment processes become increasingly digital, protecting workers from employment-related fraud is no longer solely a cybersecurity concern. It is also an occupational health, safety and duty-of-care priority, requiring coordinated action from employers, technology teams and workforce leaders to safeguard employees and organisational systems alike.