HR's 2025 Guide to Preventing Interview and Onboarding Fraud

A Wake-Up Call for HR in the Age of Deepfakes and Remote Work

In 2025, HR leaders are facing a new kind of threat: highly convincing fake applicants, AI-powered resume fraud, and deepfake interview proxies. What used to be fringe or far-fetched is now a weekly reality for talent teams.

From fake IT workers linked to nation-states to deepfake-driven interview fraud, the threats have never been more diverse, or more advanced. According to HYPR's 2025 State of Passwordless Identity Assurance report, 95% of organizations experienced a deepfake incident in the last year, and nearly 40% had a GenAI-related security breach.

This field-ready guide outlines 10 bottom-of-funnel actions to equip HR teams with real-world tactics, tools, and strategies to detect, prevent, and respond to identity fraud in recruiting and onboarding. Each step is designed to be immediately implementable and mapped to core tools HR professionals already use.

1. Clarify Cross-Functional Ownership of Hiring Fraud

Fraudulent hires affect HR, Security, and IT,  yet ownership is often murky:

• Align stakeholders using this guidance from HYPR’s CIO/CISO blog.
• Establish a joint fraud prevention task force.

2. Assume Everyone is Fake, and Build From There

This isn’t just about paranoia. It’s about readiness. HR teams should establish a fraud-first mindset:

• Normalize candidate fraud as a standard risk category.
• Create consistent internal workflows to flag, escalate, and investigate suspicious applications.
• Adopt peer-driven validation: use teams like security, compliance, and legal to review flagged applicants.

3. Adapt Screening Depth by Role Sensitivity

Not every role requires the same rigor:

• Segment roles into low, medium, and high trust tiers.
• Apply adaptive screening (e.g., basic IDV for marketing coordinator; full IDV and continuity checks for engineering lead).

4. Add AI Forgery Resilience to Your Hiring Workflow

As synthetic candidates and deepfakes become more sophisticated, relying on human intuition alone isn’t enough. Instead, build process-level defenses:

• Use examples from HYPR’s AI Forgery Epidemic blog to train teams on the problems.
• Integrate AI forgery testing into your hiring tech stack to flag suspicious video, voice, or document inputs automatically.
• Standardize workflows that include automated pre-screening and digital identity checks – not just résumé reviews.

5. Use Digital Footprint Signals to Automate Resume Validation

AI-generated resumes and fake work history are on the rise. Don’t rely on gut instinct, use scalable signals to flag inconsistencies early:

• Automate LinkedIn-to-resume cross-checks using screening tools or browser plug-ins.
• Look for verified links to real portfolios (e.g., GitHub, Behance) and active digital histories, not static PDF claims.
• Flag mismatches between claimed employers and suspicious email domains (e.g., Gmail addresses for C-level roles).

Toolkit Tip: Use pre-screening software that incorporates digital footprint analysis to identify high-risk applicants before interviews.

6. Verify Identity Before the Interview

Don’t wait until you like the candidate. Use multi-factor identity verification before they enter your hiring funnel:

• Require biometric and document verification at application or pre-interview stage.
• Validate location using IP and device fingerprinting.

Toolkit Tip: Integrate HYPR Affirm into your ATS (e.g., Greenhouse, Lever) to automate fraud screening.

7. Screen for Location Spoofing and Jurisdiction Risks

Remote applicants frequently lie about location:

• Use real-time geolocation checks to confirm physical presence.
• Apply filters to block non-compliant jurisdictions (e.g., embargoed nations, unsupported states).

Toolkit Tip: Leverage Affirm’s geolocation feature to automate this process and reduce liability.

Read About How HYPR Unmasks a Fake IT Worker

8. Require Live Video Interviews With Consent-Based Checks

To prevent interview fraud and proxies, implement lightweight but effective checks—with transparency and candidate consent:

• Ask candidates to briefly display a government-issued ID on camera and perform a unique gesture or phrase.
• Require cameras to remain on during interviews to ensure real-time presence.
• Clearly notify candidates if interviews will be recorded, and obtain their consent beforehand.

Toolkit Tip: Record interviews and retain them for internal verification if inconsistencies arise.

9. Confirm Continuity with Biometric Re-Verification

Proxies often disappear after early interviews. Enforce re-verification:

• Trigger biometric liveness detection at final interview or offer stage.
• Ensure the same person shows up across all touchpoints.

Toolkit Tip: Deploy Affirm to automate re-verification workflows tied to hiring stage transitions.

10. Make Identity Verification an Ongoing Process

The hiring process is only the beginning. Maintaining workforce integrity means:

• Periodic re-verification of identities, especially for high-risk or privileged roles.
• Applying identity verification during role changes, contractor onboarding, or access escalation.

Toolkit Tip: Consider implementing continuous or lifecycle IDV strategies to stay ahead of evolving threats.

HYPR's Candidate Verification Solution for HR Teams 

In today’s remote and hybrid hiring environments, verifying a candidate’s identity is more critical—and more challenging—than ever. HYPR Affirm empowers HR and talent teams to securely validate candidate identities before day one, reducing risk while accelerating onboarding.

• Government ID Verification: Validate passports and driver’s licenses with advanced fraud detection.
• Location & Device Checks: Confirm login attempts originate from trusted geographies and endpoints.
• Liveness Detection & Facial Matching: Ensure the person behind the screen is present and matches their ID.
• Frictionless Remote Workflows: Eliminate the need for in-person ID checks and speed up time-to-hire.

To see how leading organizations use HYPR to secure candidate verification and streamline onboarding, visit our Candidate Verification and Onboarding page.

Start with an Identity Verification Audit

HR is no longer just a gatekeeper for talent - it’s a key stakeholder in enterprise security. These 10 tactics empower HR professionals to detect deception, prevent fraud, and collaborate with Security and IT to ensure your workforce is who they say they are.

But the best place to start? Your current workforce. A comprehensive identity verification audit helps baseline your team and uncover hidden risk quickly, without integrations.

Request Your HYPR Identity Verification Audit → 

Key Takeaways:

• HR teams must treat identity fraud as a core risk area, not a rare occurrence.
• Tactical solutions like biometric verification, location screening, and digital footprint analysis can dramatically reduce onboarding fraud.
• Collaboration with security and IT is essential for assigning ownership and creating fraud-resistant hiring workflows.
• Deepfake and AI-powered applicant fraud isn’t a future risk; it’s happening now. Organizations must shift from reactive to proactive identity assurance.