recruiting, scams Niel Flamm recruiting, scams Niel Flamm

Another LinkedIn “Recruiter.” Another Scam Pattern.

Apparently, my LinkedIn profile has become a magnet for people who need to work on their scam scripts.


This morning, I received a connection request from someone presenting himself as Abdulrasheed (Tirimisiyu) Adisa, a “Senior Human Resources Recruiter at Confidential.” I accepted it.


Almost immediately, he messaged me about my “career transition” and asked what types of positions I was targeting.

I told him: Director-level Learning & Development roles.


Then he asked what career level I wanted—despite my having just told him Director—and my salary expectations.


I answered: Director, minimum $180K.

Then came the familiar request:


“Kindly share your most recent resume so I can conduct a proper evaluation and present you to the hiring team.”

🚩 And here we go again.


I already suspected this was a scam very early in the conversation because I looked at his profile.


His experience shows several supposedly concurrent positions:

  • Senior Human Resources Recruiter at “Confidential”

  • Resume Writer and Career Coach through Fiverr and Upwork

  • Career Coach at Upwork

  • Career Coach at Apex Career Partner

  • Headhunting through Fiverr


These positions overlap each other extensively.

Then there's an alleged Bachelor of Arts in Human Resources Management from Harvard Business School, which raised another rather large eyebrow.

So I asked a very simple question:



“Is this for a role or are you selling a service? Send the job description.”



Instead of answering the question directly, I suddenly received a list of five remote positions supposedly matching my background, along with an attached Word document.


And here's another interesting detail: the message said he would “verify current openness with each organization”after I selected the positions I wanted to pursue.


Wait.


You're recruiting me for jobs, but you haven't verified that the jobs are actually open?


🤔


I responded with one word:


“Scam.”


And wouldn't you know it?


Almost immediately, the connection disappeared. His name in my LinkedIn inbox became “LinkedIn Member.”

That was fast.


The lesson isn't that every recruiter who contacts you is a scammer. Plenty of legitimate recruiters reach out to candidates every day.


The lesson is to look before you leap.


Check the person's employment history. Look for overlapping jobs that don't make sense. Look at their education. Ask for the actual job description. Ask which company is hiring. Don't unthinkingly send your resume, personal information, or money simply because someone says they have the perfect opportunity.


And when somebody supposedly recruiting for a Director-level position can't even get your name right—his opening message said, “I hope you're doing well Alexandro”—perhaps that's another clue.


Alexandro, wherever you are, apparently we both have an exciting career opportunity.


😂


Follow along at NielFlamm.com/blog for more adventures from the increasingly bizarre world of online recruiting.

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