In 2025, Gartner predicted that one in four candidate profiles worldwide will be fake by 2028. That threat is no longer a prediction, it’s already happening.
Newer research from Checkr’s 2026 Hiring Hoax survey found that 40% of managers have personally interviewed a candidate later revealed to be using a fake identity, up from 31% just a year earlier.
But rather than debating whether AI is changing recruitment, the better question is: how can recruiters continue making confident hiring decisions when authenticity can no longer be taken for granted?
An industry built on trust – what now?
For decades, recruitment has operated on a principle of “trust, but verify”.
Candidates would accurately describe their experience, recruiters would represent opportunities honestly, clients would trust recommendations and references would validate claims.
Today’s reality? AI is shifting the balance towards “verify, then trust”.
This shift is evolving the role of the recruiter. Instead of simply matching candidates to vacancies then verifying identities, they now need to weave in due diligence throughout the whole hiring process.
As candidate profiles become easier to create, edit and optimise with AI, trust in the recruitment process depends less on what candidates claim and more on what can be evidenced.
Recruitment’s trust problem is growing
If a quarter of candidate profiles could be fake within the next two years, what does that mean for the recruitment industry? More importantly, what does it mean for client confidence?
When four in ten managers report having interviewed someone later found to be using a fake identity, the challenge is no longer simply finding talent. It’s proving that talent is genuine.
If a convincing profile is no longer enough to establish credibility, the value of a recruiter lies in looking beyond it. The task is to give clients a recommendation they can stand behind, not simply an application that looks the part.
Trust is a two-way street
A lot of headlines focus on fraudulent applications and fake candidates. And there’s no doubt that this in itself is a major issue. But it’s also important to remember that trust must go both ways.
With the adoption of AI also reaching into vetting processes and application reviews, a level of transparency and accountability must be maintained. Candidates need to be able to trust the recruiters they’re sending their application to, and that:
- They’ll be fairly assessed
- Their data will be securely handled
- Any use of AI will be clearly communicated before any data is submitted
Reality check: AI isn’t the problem. It’s just amplifying it.
Anyone who has been on LinkedIn in the past year or so, even for a moment, will have noticed the army of pitchforks already marching against AI.
And yes, the caution is well founded.
But the very important point that’s being overlooked is that in many cases, AI itself isn’t the problem. It’s just enhancing an existing threat.
When it comes to recruitment, candidate misrepresentation isn’t new. Recruiters have long faced CV exaggeration, proxy candidates, inflated job titles, and embellished ‘experience’.
So AI hasn’t invented candidate dishonesty. What it has done is made it easier to create polished applications, convincing interview answers and even entirely fabricated candidate profiles.
The real risk isn’t that candidates have access to AI. It’s that recruitment processes were designed for a world in which they didn’t.
The risk of recruitment bottlenecks
Many organisations might instinctively respond by adding more interviews, more assessments and increased scrutiny to the hiring process. But that could create slower hiring, poorer candidate experience and recruitment bottlenecks.
Winning the war against fraudulent candidates doesn’t mean treating every candidate like a fraudster. It’s about assessing how existing processes can be adapted to seamlessly include risk mitigation steps.
AI is steaming ahead. Recruiters can’t afford to stand still.
The good news is that many businesses are already making moves to catchup with the accelerated use of AI. Checker Hiring Hoax Survey 2026 found 71% of HR teams have received formal fraud training, up from 17% in 2025.
This is a good sign that organisations are increasingly recognising the importance of identifying candidate fraud, impersonation and AI-assisted misrepresentation.
With this as a starting point, the next step is to integrate risk mitigation methods into the assessment pipeline.
What good assessment looks like in an AI world
As outlined by Clevry in their State of AI in Talent Assessment report, 3 main approaches include:
- Deterrence – Cheating in assessments or interview tasks isn’t new. But if candidates know there are checks in place that could catch them out, they may think twice before trying it. The aim? Discourage dishonest behaviour before it starts.
- Countermeasures – Next, make cheating harder to pull off. That could mean limiting copying and pasting or blocking screenshots for online assessments. Or for interview questions or tasks, brief bespoke topics that have limited existing content online – encourage original thought, not duplication.
- Detection – Of course, some candidates will still try to get around the rules. Use tools that can detect attempts to change tab or use a plagiarism checker for written submissions. And as new ways to cheat emerge, the checks need to evolve too. It’s about keeping up, not letting the risk of misuse bring progress to a standstill.
You can’t eliminate every risk. But you can prepare for them.
Let’s be realistic: you can’t guarantee that every CV is accurate, that a candidate hasn’t used AI or that a placement will never lead to a dispute. And trying to account for every possibility won’t change that.
What you can do is put yourself in a stronger position. That means:
- Carrying out robust checks
- Building safeguards into assessments
- Following documented processes
- Putting appropriate protections in place in case something does go wrong
It’s about being prepared, rather than expecting to eliminate every risk.
That’s where specialist insurance comes into the picture too. Just as deterrence, countermeasures and detection help reduce hiring risks, appropriate cover can provide a financial safety net when issues arise despite your best efforts. You can’t control every outcome, but you can make sure you’re not relying on luck alone to stay protected.
Kingsbridge Recruitment can offer specialist cover like Professional Indemnity and Cyber Liability insurance, providing an important safety net alongside strong governance.
Speak to the Kingsbridge team – they’ll be more than happy to answer your insurance questions.
