Job scams are growing and getting tougher to spot: ‘That’s the reality of this hell job market’

About 32% of gen-Zers report have been a victim of a job scam. Photograph: Tomasz Tulik/AlamyView image in fullscreenAbout 32% of gen-Zers report have been a victim of a job scam. Photograph: Tomasz Tulik/AlamyConsumedJob huntingJob scams are growing and getting tougher to spot: ‘That’s the reality of this hell job market’Swindlers now use AI to send out floods of fraudulent messages to gain the personal information of job seekers

Americans are seeing more employment scams than ever as job seekers, facing a tough job market, report a bombardment of messages from swindlers try to lure them into giving sensitive information.

Experts say the technology behind these scams has only gotten better over time, allowing fraudsters to easily impersonate employers and send out huge floods of direct messages and emails to job seekers.

Reports of employment scams doubled in 2025 from the year before, according to a recent study from the Better Business Bureau (BBB). And gen Z applicants looking to jumpstart their careers have in particular been hit hard: about 32% of gen-Zers report have been a victim of a job scam, compared with 15% of gen-Xers.

“It’s one thing to say ‘don’t open attachments’ and ‘that email is dangerous’, but if I think this email might be my shot at getting a job, it’s a different risk,” said Josephine Wolff, a cybersecurity policy professor at The Fletcher School at Tufts University. “Unemployed job seekers are in a very vulnerable position and susceptible to this type of manipulation.”

Last month, Sally got an intriguing interview request while job-hunting online from a Minneapolis cafe.

“We are delighted to inform you that your certifications closely align with several current opportunities,” the email promised. “We respectfully ask that you set up an online interview as soon as possible.”

Since graduating from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in late 2022, Sally had sent out so many applications for graphic design jobs that the 22-year-old couldn’t remember where they had applied.

That was exactly why the email didn’t immediately raise alarms. The sender, “Ryan L Goodson”, said he was from a real biotech company that was based in Seattle. He used sophisticated language, had a company logo in his signature and a professional-looking email domain.

“I didn’t want to look silly in the interview, so I tried searching for my original application,” Sally said. Soon, they realized they had never applied to a job at the company.

The mystery led Sally to Reddit, where they found the same fraudulent email copied and pasted in multiple posts.

“You think you’ll spot the warning signs. But you’re not the exception, you’re prey to it too,” Sally said. “That’s the reality of this hell job market.”