According to Schmidt, the company has seen several recurring trends. Identity theft is becoming more sophisticated, with fraudsters posing as real developers. Hijacked LinkedIn accounts are being used to boost credibility, and AI and machine learning jobs are particularly vulnerable targets.
Some operators use so-called “laptop farms” in the US to give the impression of local presence, and fake educational credentials from US universities are common. According to Amazon, even small details, such as phone numbers written with a country code of “1”, can help reveal fake profiles.
Amazon says that the problem is likely to be industry-wide and urges other companies to review their identity verification practices and report suspicious cases to authorities such as the FBI.
