What to post when fake LinkedIn recruiters impersonate your company

A company should usually publish three things, in this order:

1. A careers-page notice that candidates can bookmark and verify against.
2. A short LinkedIn post if the impersonation occurred on LinkedIn or candidates are likely to encounter it there.
3. A brief website alert only if the careers page is hard to find or the incident is generating repeated inbound questions.

What the careers-page notice should include

Keep the notice plain, factual, and centered on candidate safety. Include only process claims that are true for your company.

A strong careers-page notice should include:

• A clear heading, such as Candidate Safety Notice or Recruitment Scam Alert.
• A statement that legitimate openings can be verified through the official careers portal.
• A recruiting or HR contact for candidates who are unsure.
• A warning that the company does not ask for payment, money transfers, or sensitive personal information through unofficial channels, if that accurately reflects your hiring process.
• A role-specific clarification only after HR confirms it, such as: We do not currently have an active opening for this role in this location.

This structure matches the candidate-first approach used in public company notices. Atlassian warns that fraudulent job opportunities may come from unauthorized agencies or people impersonating Atlassians and may mimic its careers site or company email addresses. Allstate says recruitment fraud can arrive through unsolicited emails, online recruitment services including LinkedIn, bogus websites, and text messages, typically to obtain personal information or money. Databricks tells applicants to apply through its official careers page, describes official communication domains, and says it will never ask candidates to send money to acquire a job or interview.

Careers-page notice template

What to post on LinkedIn

A LinkedIn post is useful when the fake recruiter used LinkedIn, when candidates may be searching the company there, or when employees need a public statement they can point to. The post should be shorter than the careers-page notice and should route readers to the official verification page.

Do not name the suspected impersonator, share screenshots, or describe the incident as a data breach unless Legal and Security have confirmed those facts. The safest wording is narrow: potential recruitment impersonation activity, falsely claiming to represent the company, and verify through official channels.

LinkedIn post template

For a shorter version:

What to confirm before adding specifics

Before publishing details about a fake role, location, recruiter name, or affected candidates, align HR, Legal, Security, and Corporate Affairs on what is known.

Confirm:

• Whether the role actually exists in any region or business unit.
• Whether any authorized recruiting agency could be contacting candidates.
• Which domains, tools, or email addresses are legitimate for your hiring process.
• Whether any candidate reports involve payment requests or sensitive information.
• Whether there is evidence of account compromise, data exposure, or only external impersonation.

If those facts are not confirmed, keep the public wording general. Candidate-protection language can go live quickly without overclaiming.

Candidate red flags worth listing

A useful notice teaches candidates what to look for without overwhelming them. The most practical red flags are:

• Requests for payment, fees, equipment purchases, or money transfers. The FTC and several company notices identify money requests as a key warning sign in recruitment scams.
• Requests for personal information unusually early or through unofficial channels. Atlassian specifically lists requests for personal information early in the process as a fraud indicator.
• Messages from personal or non-company accounts. The FTC flags personal email accounts as suspicious in recruiter impersonation scenarios, and Databricks states that official communications come from specified company or hiring-tool domains.
• Roles that cannot be found on the official careers site. The FTC advises candidates to verify jobs through the company’s own website, and Databricks says its job postings can be found on its Careers site.
• Links to lookalike websites or communications that mimic company email addresses. Atlassian warns that scams may mimic its careers site and company email addresses, while Allstate warns about bogus websites and text messages.

Language to use, and language to avoid

Use measured language while the facts are still being checked:

• Potential recruitment impersonation activity
• Individuals falsely claiming to represent [Company]
• Verify all roles through our official careers portal
• Contact our recruiting team directly at [email]

Avoid language that adds legal or factual risk:

• Do not call it a breach unless there is evidence of compromise.
• Do not accuse a named person publicly without Legal review.
• Do not confirm a fake role title, location, or salary unless HR has checked it.
• Do not include operational details that could help copycat scammers.
• Do not make blanket promises about candidate data or hiring steps unless they match your actual process.

Bottom line

When fake recruiters impersonate a company on LinkedIn, the public response should be fast, calm, and useful. Put the careers page at the center, use LinkedIn to route candidates to that source of truth, and keep every statement focused on verification, red flags, and candidate safety.