Be Aware of Fraudulent and Scam Job Offers

By on October 16, 2025

"caution" red flag over job offer

from a LinkedIn post by Cheryl Bedard, Cheryl Bedard Executive Search

Jobseekers! Be Aware of Fraudulent and Scam Job Offers! I spoke with Brandon Lunn, MBA, PMP, LSS to get a first-hand account of how the fraudulent job offer worked. Thankfully, Brandon was too smart to fall for the scam and lose his money, but he did lose time in his job search, as he thought he had landed. Brandon gave permission for me to repost this, as he is trying to expose the scammers and warn other job seekers. Read his account below. Many thanks to Brandon for sharing his story to benefit others. (note: Brandon’s post follows below Cheryl’s)

Employers: Brandon is still looking for his next role. Snap him up!

Key takeaways:
1. Do NOT apply to jobs on LinkedIn or Indeed. Go directly to the company website. Verify the job posting is real.
2. Verify communications. Upon close scrutiny, Brandon realized the email domains communicating to him were not exactly the same as the real company. (The difference can be a dash instead of a dot.)
3. Beware of AI-only interviews. While Brandon spoke by phone with a real person, his interview was conducted by AI. Not every AI interview is a scam, but look closely at the pattern of communications, and trust your gut about what seems off.
4. If you’re going to trust, you must verify.
5. DO NOT send money to anyone who is supposed to be hiring YOU to do a job.

(Brandon’s post)

As many of you know, I recently received and accepted a job offer where everything went completely as expected, including interviews, detailed job description & KPIs, offer documents, a benefits guide with employee pricing, etc. The day after accepting the offer, someone impersonating a company executive requested I pay upfront for PC peripheral equipment. I immediately paused. A quick online search revealed a Reddit story using the same email accounts to make a very similar job offer and request. While Kurihalant Co., Ltd. is a legitimate company, the job offer was fraudulent. I even had the real Kurihalant company verify.

Key Points:

  • I am actively open for work again, and feel fortunate to have only lost time.
  • I am moving forward with positivity and remain eager to contribute and demonstrate my skills and experience.
  • This job offer scam was more elaborate and sophisticated than most. For your benefit and the benefit of all, remain alert and vigilant. Verify everything. Do not allow urgency to override caution and logic.

    We can all agree how disappointing it is that scammers prey on those seeking honest work, using vulnerability to commit theft. Every exposed scam is a chance to lead with courage, protect others, and remind the world that integrity always outlasts deception. Armed with IP addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, and website host information, I am going above and beyond my civic duty to help shut down this job scam. A report has already been filed with the FBI for attempted bank/credit card fraud.

    We all rise by lifting others, and that includes protecting each other from fraud. As a visionary thinker, the vision here should be that if we all recognize and prevent these scams, we can drive scammers to choose other work that is actually productive for society and our economy. Let’s all move forward together.

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