Could You Spot a Recruitment Scam?

30 Sep 2026

A message lands in your inbox about an exciting new opportunity. The role is real. The organization is real. The recruiter’s name looks familiar.

So, naturally, it feels legitimate.

But would you know if the person contacting you wasn’t actually who they claimed to be?

Recruitment scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Fraudsters can use information that is already publicly available — job advertisements, LinkedIn profiles, company websites and recruiter details — to create approaches that look surprisingly convincing.

That’s why a little healthy skepticism can go a long way.

The role may be real. The message may not be.

One of the challenges with modern recruitment scams is that there may not be an obvious spelling mistake, strange job title or unbelievable offer.

A scammer might reference a genuine vacancy, use the name of a real organisation, or even pretend to be a real Principal Consultant.

Before responding to an unexpected approach, take a moment to look a little closer.

A few red flags to watch for

Be cautious if someone:

• Contacts you from a personal email address or an unfamiliar domain.
• Pressures you to respond or act quickly.
• Asks you to move the conversation away from normal recruitment channels.
• Requests payment, banking information, passwords or verification codes.
• Asks for sensitive identity documents before you have verified who they are.
• Sends links to websites or application forms that don’t match the organization’s official website.

And remember: HardyGroup will never ask a candidate to pay a fee to participate in a recruitment process.

Three words worth remembering: Stop. Check. Verify.

If something doesn’t feel quite right, pause before responding.

Stop
Don’t click unexpected links, open suspicious attachments, send money or provide sensitive information.

Check
Look at the sender’s email address, the role being discussed and the application process. Does it match the information published through HG’s official channels?

Verify
Contact HG independently using the details on our official website. Don’t rely solely on the phone number, email address or link contained in the message you are trying to verify.

And please don’t worry about offending a genuine consultant by checking.

We will always understand.

In fact, we would much rather you take an extra minute to verify an approach than take an unnecessary risk with your personal information.

We’re doing our part too

Trust has always been central to the relationship between HG, our candidates and our clients.

As the digital environment changes, we continue to review the way our opportunities and candidate information are presented online, strengthen our security practices, monitor potential impersonation activity and work with our technology partners to investigate suspicious approaches.

But cybersecurity isn’t only about technology.

Awareness is one of our strongest defenses.

Something doesn’t look right? Let us know.

If you receive a message claiming to be from HG and you’re unsure whether it’s genuine, pause the conversation and contact us through the details published on the official job or any of the contact forms on the website.

If possible, keep a copy of the suspicious message so it can be investigated.

A few moments spent checking could protect your personal information — and help protect other candidates from the same scam.

Stop. Check. Verify.

Because when it comes to your career — and your personal information — it’s always worth making sure you know who you’re talking to.