Phenom Unveils the HR Tech Industry’s First Fraud Detection Agentic AI Tool

Imposters posing as qualified job applicants is so pervasive it’s difficult to know for sure how deep the problem runs. Gartner predicts that by 2028, one in four global job candidates could be gaming the system, but even that may well underestimate just how bad it is.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Justice Department indicted two North Korean nationals in connection with a years-long plot to install North Korean IT workers as remote employees. More than 300 American companies fell for the scheme, which generated almost $7 million for the overseas IT workers.

This is precisely why we’ve built the HR tech industry's first-ever fraud detection agentic AI tool that can detect candidates who cheat in the interview process — in real time. You read that right: we are the only company that can do this in real time. This AI agent will enter beta testing in June 2025 with select customers. General availability is expected in late 2025. 

Is this truly a big problem? 

Phenom has more than 700 customers on its platform, and they include multinational conglomerates and universities. In the last year, they reported anywhere from a 50%-200% rise in poser candidates. For large employers who may be hiring tens of thousands of IT professionals (the chicanery almost always involves IT roles), fraudsters are counting on scale to simply slip through the cracks — similar to what the indicted North Koreans allegedly did.

If you think about it, it could take anywhere from three months to a year to figure out someone isn’t actually qualified, especially remote workers. At this point, an organization could have lost tens of thousands of dollars in “salary” payments. 

The benefits of our Fraud Detection Agent

• Live interviews: Our advanced AI tools for fraud detection analyze responses and indicate to the recruiter or hiring manager if it thinks there's potential that ChatGPT, Claude or any one of the other commercially available AI tools on the market was being used to answer the questions. A prompt will alert the interviewer and give recommendations for additional questions to thwart AI-assisted responses.

• Recorded interviews:  Phenom currently offers Phenom Interview Intelligence — a product that records interviews and provides an assessment for those who couldn’t attend the interview. Two things in particular stand out about the capability. One, the tool provides highlights of the interview where the hiring team felt that the candidate really spoke to the requirements of the position. It also helps the team identify potential bias or legal issues in the interview based on questions that were asked. That’s a huge plus when bias continues to be an issue.

• Video and audio screening tool: A recruiter can ask someone to record a video answering questions, and the AI fraud detection agent will compare audio and video to the screening results and give an indication whether the same person who did the screening was the same one who participated in the interview.

See our Fraud Detection Agent in action here.

What’s next in fraud protection?

The next iteration of our products will allow employers to identify whether resumes were generated based on actual work experience, or whether they were strategically enhanced by AI to get the job. True, most people tweak resumes to meet the requirements of the job anyway. It’s a long-held practice. But Phenom wants to ensure that that experience is in fact real, and not made up to make the candidate look more appealing.

AI helps both employers and candidates

Using AI to hire talent isn’t just for employers. Candidates can benefit too, and Phenom is there for them. Phenom Candidate Concierge, a feature of our Talent Companion, allows prospects to prepare for interviews. So it's not all or nothing. It’s just that when it comes time for candidates to be themselves, they’ve got to be their true selves in every respect.

As with most things in life, if something sounds too good to be true (like a job candidate), it probably is. Caveat emptor!