Shane had taken a few months off after his high-powered role with a multinational had been made redundant. So when the polished outreach of a recruiter sharing a confidential C-suite position hit his inbox, he was delighted. His LinkedIn profile was a great match.
“My heart took a beat,” says Shane, a senior leader with 20-plus years international experience. The message read: “Confidential, high-impact opportunity – global head of event and experiential marketing – $150K – $300K+.”
This was a near bang-on match for his job search.
“Hi Shane, I’m reaching out regarding a confidential, retained search for a global head of event and experiential marketing with a company in the enterprise technology space,” wrote Staffmark senior vice president Nina Franco.
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“Your background stood out strongly during our shortlist review,” Nina said.
It had only been hours since Shane had made a LinkedIn post informing his network he was no longer in his old role and was open to new opportunities.
The hiring company, a Dublin-based multinational, was seeking a leader to “drive measurable outcomes, build teams and shape performance”, the recruitment executive said.
“If this aligns with what you’re exploring, I’d be happy to share the full role brief.”
“People who go through silent redundancies feel the various stages of grief,” says Shane. “I had really identified with my job, I loved my job. I was good at it. I felt I excelled at it, so losing my job was a big deal for me.
“So when I got this email, I felt elated. I felt, finally, here is a recruiter who has taken time to read my profile. Here is a job that matches my expertise.”
It was indeed an uncanny match. The Staffmark website existed and Shane responded promptly. He asked Nina to share the role, and he suggested a phone call. He clarified his email address too; the recruiter had used an old one.
Nina’s response was fast.
The employer, she could reveal, was a multinational customer relationship management provider called HubSpot. The role was located at its Europe office in Dublin – hybrid working with global travel, reporting to the top table. It was a remarkable match to his previous role.
She shared the “key responsibilities” and an “ideal candidate” profile too. Compensation would include “performance bonuses, RSU [restricted stock units], premium benefits”.
Shane would need to respond to some screening questions, confirming his openness to travel, and forward his resume.
He attached his CV and biography.
“I thought, oh my God, this would be such an amazing opportunity, this could be really great.”
Nina’s response, again, was fast. She said she’d run a quick “alignment check” on his resume.
“I was all for this. I had my CV tested myself, I wasn’t concerned when she said she’d like to do it again – in fact, it made sense to me because of the AI tools used in recruitment,” he says.
“I’ve reviewed your CV, and based on how our client evaluates senior talent ... I think a few enhancements can boost your positioning,” Nina suggested.
She followed up with a long email of highly detailed and personalised feedback based on his CV, including pointers on how he could better describe specific parts of his experience to meet the role. The level of attention to detail was incredible and on point.
“I couldn’t disagree with anything. It made complete sense,” says Shane.
The format and font of his CV could be better optimised too, she said, so as not to confuse applicant tracking systems, the software employers use to find the best candidates.
“Our executive document specialist can elevate your resume to board-ready standard, while keeping your authentic voice and your achievements front and centre,” Nina offered.
“Would you like an introduction?”
Impressed by her detailed feedback and keen to progress, Shane agreed. Nina forwarded a Microsoft Teams link, asking him to message the specialist directly.
“Be sure to request a 24-hour turnaround so we can keep your process moving quickly,” she signed off.
“Nina informed me about your need for a resume revamp,” specialist Michael Emmanuel told Shane on Teams.
He could rejig Shane’s CV to make his 20-plus years’ experience sing while making the format compatible with AI screening technology. Keyword optimisation would ensure his resume really aligned with the job description.
“Is there a cost with this, or does this come out of commission if I’m successfully placed in this role?” Shane queried.
Michael outlined packages from $100 up to $500 for a “director-level” package – was this the level “best aligned to the direction he’d like his career to take?” Michael asked.
“Are you on LinkedIn, so I can check out your services?” Shane asked.
Michael was a Staffmark partner, he said. He didn’t operate on LinkedIn.
“I thought that was weird,” says Shane.
They should agree to a package and then Michael would send Shane a contract via a platform that would keep his payment secure until the project was “delivered, reviewed and marked as complete by you”, Michael said.
“I thought, something is wrong here,” says Shane. “My heart sank. I stopped the chat.”
He emailed Nina and asked for a call – he would make the changes himself, he said.
Nina wasn’t keen.
The role was highly competitive and the search confidential, she wouldn’t be able to give much more detail on the phone at this point in the process. His CV scored just “21 per cent against screening criteria” – this was “well below the threshold for consideration”, she said.
Proceed with the CV specialist and we can move forward promptly, she advised.
“If not, I completely understand, though I would not be able to advance your candidacy in its current state.”
Ouch.
[ ‘I feel so stupid’: Victim’s shame at falling for ‘classic’ €30,000 invoice scamOpens in new window ]
Whatever about the power of LinkedIn’s virtual network, Shane tapped his own real-life network. He called someone, who called someone, who would categorically confirm this job opening did not exist.
Shane emailed Nina.
“I’m not sure why you would not be open to a phone conversation”, he said.
Nina, or AI Nina, went quiet.
Two days later, his inbox pinged.
“Shane, I just wanted to check to see if you’re still interested in this role,” Nina wrote.
It was Saturday evening; AI Nina, and whoever was behind her, was clearly working overtime.
“If not, let me know so we can move forward and offer the opportunity to someone else. I’d appreciate an update when you have a moment. Best regards, Nina.”
“Are you with me?” Michael Emmanuel asked in a follow-up message.
It had been a hell of a ride, but no, Shane was not with him any more.
Only later did he fully appreciate the red flags – the speed of the emails, the subtle pressure, and Nina’s reluctance to take a call. Nina had used a Gmail address, too.
“Her using Gmail didn’t bother me, there are a lot of confidential, bigger roles often taken offline,” he says.
Shane’s instincts ultimately saved him from losing money, but the scam cost him in other ways.
“I was upset,” says Shane. “I’ve had a couple of emails with potential jobs from scammers. One was for a role in Meta in Dublin. Another was for another tech firm, but you knew straight off it was a scam.
“But when I looked at this email, I fell for it, to be very honest. It was very targeted. I felt, ‘you know me, you know my background.’
“My assumption is this scam came to me because of what I posted on LinkedIn. I have never seen this level of sophistication of what you would call AI scamming, targeting the vulnerability of people sharing posts on LinkedIn,” he says.
“It is chilling. It’s really opened my eyes to how AI tools are using your online profiles for scams.”
He pays €360 a year as a premium member of LinkedIn. The platform has a duty of care towards its users, he believes.
The platform offers LinkedIn Talent Solutions – AI-driven tools that enable recruiters to find members with specific profiles, filtering by things such as job title, location, their year of graduation and whether they are open to work.
Within hours of his “open to opportunities” post, Shane feels his data was scraped from the platform to create a personally-targeted scam.
“I feel LinkedIn should be using cyber criminality measures, or at least communicating with its members the risks and threats of how their profiles are being used by criminals,” Shane says.
He feels scams like this are “discrediting” the platform. LinkedIn used to be social media’s earnest, nerdy cousin, in chinos and decksiders.
Scams like the one experienced by Shane, however, will make users query being so loose-lipped on the platform – when and where we went to school or college, what we studied, where we’ve worked and when, our family members and professional contacts, the conferences we will attend.
“I felt betrayed by LinkedIn, that’s why I haven’t called them,” says Shane.
Asked for a response, LinkedIn in Ireland said because the scammers approached Shane via email, not through its platform, they don’t have a specific statement.
It shared a LinkedIn post by the company’s product VP, who said the company was working to “make job searching safer”.
LinkedIn’s own AI tools can help job seekers tailor their CV, reducing their reliance on third-party services, which are increasingly associated with job scams, it says. More than a third of job scams now involve low-quality, CV-writing services, says LinkedIn.
Scammers with a LinkedIn account are twice as likely to ask you to move the conversation off LinkedIn before their account gets removed, the platform says. Keep your interactions on LinkedIn, where its tools and features provide safety, it advises.
Be suspicious of approaches from recruiter profiles that don’t have a LinkedIn “verified” badge – this can be achieved by providing a work email address – that have misspellings, mismatched email addresses, a low number of connections, or that use a generic email address instead of @company.com.
Shane’s message to others is vigilance. When a recruiter approaches with a role that’s an impressive match and with flattering urgency, second-guess it.
“My advice to anyone who has fallen for this is don’t be hard on yourself. It’s happening left, right and centre and it’s at a level of sophistication I haven’t seen before.”
The name “Shane” is used to keep the person’s identity private.
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