6 ms·

> yet fake people are getting hired left and right. Hate to be that person, but what are you reading that makes you think this is true? Agree that the article

> yet fake people are getting hired left and right. Hate to be that person, but what are you reading that makes you think this is true? Agree that the article is pretty dumb though, especially the OSINT and Crypto “don’t trust, verify” comments. Feels like content marketing that didn’t really hit.

ta1243 1y ago
They're getting interviews left and right https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/29/north_korea_worker_interview_questions/ https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/29/north_korea_worker_in... According to Crowdstrike (the company that wiped out most of global technology last year) at least > My favorite interview question, because we've interviewed quite a few of these folks, is something to the effect of 'How fat is Kim Jong Un?' They terminate the call instantly
- jwilber 1y ago
  Hired left and right != interviewed left and right != interviewed quite a few at Crowdstrike. Maybe you’re contributing to the narrative with the posts like above. It’ll certainly drive engagement.
- ductsurprise 1y ago
  > My favorite interview question, because we've interviewed quite a few of these folks, is something to the effect of 'How fat is Kim Jong Un?' They terminate the call instantly I'm sure there were a lot of false positives with that question. If I was not reading HN and a few other sources I would likely hang up the phone too. Thinking that it couldn't be a real job,... some phishing scam or hoax, asking ridiculous questions like that. Depending on the job, it is quite likely the real talent would not be able to take the interview seriously after hearing suck a question. Seriously weird times...
  - psygn89 1y ago
    That's actually hilarious. Edit: Oops, accidentally responded to you instead of original quote.
- eunos 1y ago
  > How fat is Kim Jong Un Ha if I got asked that during an interview, I'd think either I went to the wrong interview or the interview is a red flag.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - tough 1y ago
    In crypto has become a known joke to ask that before hiring bc NK state actors really are focsuesd on it and hacking companies etc.
sanktanglia 1y ago
I mean the article did point out that there were some official emails for other companies mixed in with the info for this user suggesting they or others have gotten hired and official emails at other companies
unsupp0rted 1y ago
There's always that guy on X who posts about having n remote jobs at the same, waiting to be fired from each so that he can replace its slot with another. Then next year it's a different guy, same schtick.
- mingus88 1y ago
  I’ve also seen some claim that they will do that and simply sub-contract the work out to cheaper labor If the employer is satisfied with the employees output, who is being harmed?
  - ted_dunning 1y ago
    A company that is indemnifying their customers for security lapses perhaps? Or a company that is handling HIPAA, GDPR or other sensitive data and is certifying that they are following policies around employee training, data sovereignty and document handling?
cj 1y ago
80% of our recruiter's time is spent trying to figure out which candidates are real and which are fake. It's really, really bad. We post a role, get 500 applicants, and nearly all of them are not legitimate. They all look amazing, really great resume, impressive LinkedIn, etc... but when you dig a little deeper, it's not that hard to find a bunch of red flags (LinkedIn profile create < 3 months ago, VOIP number, using VPN to submit job application, etc). You really have to know what signs to look for. They're very convincing fakes. We're extremely vigilant about this issue as a company, yet we've had people get through 2 or 3 rounds before someone realized something was off (some people are really, really good at faking it). I feel bad for small companies trying to hire. For us, it got to the point where we literally couldn't open a role unless we had a full time recruiter to sift through all the international candidates pretending to live in the US. Edit: We've been dealing with this for a couple years now, and there still isn't a great solution. Unfortunately the only surefire "solutions" we can think of are also things that would make the interview process less enjoyable for real candidates, which sucks. (One idea was to ask candidates to show us photo ID during the video interview, but something about making a candidate do that just doesn't feel good - although we have tried it, and it has effectively stopped a few fake people from getting through)
- tough 1y ago
  maybe leave the photo id ask for when there's suspicion only is fine
  - DiggyJohnson 1y ago
    Why has asking for photo ID become politicized. ID for voting and job interviews seems like some of the most reasonable usage for an official ID.
    - mingus88 1y ago
      The reason it is political for voting is that the rules needed to get a qualified ID are often impossible (or hard enough to suppress voting) for many legit voters. These rules have become weaponized in a culture war, such as the requirement that an ID match the name on the birth record, meaning women whose last names changed during marriage require additional paperwork, often crossing state lines and in person visits. Bingo, disenfranchised a large population of women. Personally I think voting should be mandatory as some countries have done, and verification should be easy. Obviously you need documentation to work, and it’s fair to gather that documentation as early in the process as is reasonable (as in when an application is submitted)
hibikir 1y ago
As the last interviewer in a loop, I have caught fake candidates. This means they are getting through earlier rounds in my own employer, and makes me think I don't have a 100% success rate.
throwaway48476 1y ago
People tend to only interact either the process when they're looking for work, so rarely. The north Koreans do it everyday and optimize the process. It's like captchas where the bots have surpassed human skill.
anarticle 1y ago
I did see two fakes hired at my old company, a 20 something "senior eng" who couldn't use git or python, and shockingly a VP who managed to fake it for nearly a year. He was unceremoniously fired on a Friday, but he was still paid lol. I worked at an adtech company, he would give talks with powerpoints talking about internet of things which was absolutely wild. (We never sold or touched a single piece of hardware.)

ta1243 1y ago

They're getting interviews left and right https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/29/north_korea_worker_interview_questions/ https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/29/north_korea_worker_in... According to Crowdstrike (the company that wiped out most of global technology last year) at least > My favorite interview question, because we've interviewed quite a few of these folks, is something to the effect of 'How fat is Kim Jong Un?' They terminate the call instantly

jwilber 1y ago
Hired left and right != interviewed left and right != interviewed quite a few at Crowdstrike. Maybe you’re contributing to the narrative with the posts like above. It’ll certainly drive engagement.
ductsurprise 1y ago
> My favorite interview question, because we've interviewed quite a few of these folks, is something to the effect of 'How fat is Kim Jong Un?' They terminate the call instantly I'm sure there were a lot of false positives with that question. If I was not reading HN and a few other sources I would likely hang up the phone too. Thinking that it couldn't be a real job,... some phishing scam or hoax, asking ridiculous questions like that. Depending on the job, it is quite likely the real talent would not be able to take the interview seriously after hearing suck a question. Seriously weird times...
- psygn89 1y ago
  That's actually hilarious. Edit: Oops, accidentally responded to you instead of original quote.
eunos 1y ago
> How fat is Kim Jong Un Ha if I got asked that during an interview, I'd think either I went to the wrong interview or the interview is a red flag.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- tough 1y ago
  In crypto has become a known joke to ask that before hiring bc NK state actors really are focsuesd on it and hacking companies etc.

sanktanglia 1y ago

I mean the article did point out that there were some official emails for other companies mixed in with the info for this user suggesting they or others have gotten hired and official emails at other companies

unsupp0rted 1y ago

There's always that guy on X who posts about having n remote jobs at the same, waiting to be fired from each so that he can replace its slot with another. Then next year it's a different guy, same schtick.

mingus88 1y ago
I’ve also seen some claim that they will do that and simply sub-contract the work out to cheaper labor If the employer is satisfied with the employees output, who is being harmed?
- ted_dunning 1y ago
  A company that is indemnifying their customers for security lapses perhaps? Or a company that is handling HIPAA, GDPR or other sensitive data and is certifying that they are following policies around employee training, data sovereignty and document handling?

cj 1y ago

80% of our recruiter's time is spent trying to figure out which candidates are real and which are fake. It's really, really bad. We post a role, get 500 applicants, and nearly all of them are not legitimate. They all look amazing, really great resume, impressive LinkedIn, etc... but when you dig a little deeper, it's not that hard to find a bunch of red flags (LinkedIn profile create < 3 months ago, VOIP number, using VPN to submit job application, etc). You really have to know what signs to look for. They're very convincing fakes. We're extremely vigilant about this issue as a company, yet we've had people get through 2 or 3 rounds before someone realized something was off (some people are really, really good at faking it). I feel bad for small companies trying to hire. For us, it got to the point where we literally couldn't open a role unless we had a full time recruiter to sift through all the international candidates pretending to live in the US. Edit: We've been dealing with this for a couple years now, and there still isn't a great solution. Unfortunately the only surefire "solutions" we can think of are also things that would make the interview process less enjoyable for real candidates, which sucks. (One idea was to ask candidates to show us photo ID during the video interview, but something about making a candidate do that just doesn't feel good - although we have tried it, and it has effectively stopped a few fake people from getting through)

tough 1y ago
maybe leave the photo id ask for when there's suspicion only is fine
- DiggyJohnson 1y ago
  Why has asking for photo ID become politicized. ID for voting and job interviews seems like some of the most reasonable usage for an official ID.
  - mingus88 1y ago
    The reason it is political for voting is that the rules needed to get a qualified ID are often impossible (or hard enough to suppress voting) for many legit voters. These rules have become weaponized in a culture war, such as the requirement that an ID match the name on the birth record, meaning women whose last names changed during marriage require additional paperwork, often crossing state lines and in person visits. Bingo, disenfranchised a large population of women. Personally I think voting should be mandatory as some countries have done, and verification should be easy. Obviously you need documentation to work, and it’s fair to gather that documentation as early in the process as is reasonable (as in when an application is submitted)

hibikir 1y ago

As the last interviewer in a loop, I have caught fake candidates. This means they are getting through earlier rounds in my own employer, and makes me think I don't have a 100% success rate.

throwaway48476 1y ago

People tend to only interact either the process when they're looking for work, so rarely. The north Koreans do it everyday and optimize the process. It's like captchas where the bots have surpassed human skill.

anarticle 1y ago

I did see two fakes hired at my old company, a 20 something "senior eng" who couldn't use git or python, and shockingly a VP who managed to fake it for nearly a year. He was unceremoniously fired on a Friday, but he was still paid lol. I worked at an adtech company, he would give talks with powerpoints talking about internet of things which was absolutely wild. (We never sold or touched a single piece of hardware.)