Even security experts can fool them. In July 2024, a Florida Knowbe4, which provides security training, discovered that a new employee named Kyle is actually a foreign agent. “He interviewed Great,” said Knowbe4 CIS Brian Jack. “He was in front of the camera, his resume was right, background checks were cleared, his ID was cleared. We had no reason to suspect that this was not a valid candidate.” But when his host (the US gave him a cover) worked to install the malware on Kyle’s computer, the security team grabbed him and turned it out.
Back to London, Simon Wijckmans can’t give up on the idea that someone is trying to cheat on him. He has only read about the Knowbe4 case, which deepens his suspicion. He conducted a background check and found that some of his candidates were certainly using stolen identities. Moreover, he found that some of them were related to known North Korean operations. So the Wakeman decided to fight back some time to his exercise and he invited me to observe.
I called Google at 3 a.m. in the Pacific, tired and clumsy. We deliberately chose the offensive hour as it was 6 a.m. in Miami, candidate “Harry” claimed to be.
Harry joined the phone and looked fresh. He may be in his twenties, short and straight, with black hair. Everything about him seemed intentional: He wore a pure black crew sweater and branded headphones. “I woke up earlier today for this interview, no problem,” he said. “I know working with UK working hours is a requirement, so I can bring your working hours to your work hours, so no problem.”
So far everything matches the fake worker’s logo. Harry’s virtual background is one of the default options provided by Google Meet, and he’s slow to connect. Although he told us that he was born in New York and raised in Brooklyn, he speaks very well but has accents. Wijckmans started with some typical interview questions, and Harry kept glanced to the right as he responded. He talks about various coding languages and names, frameworks he is familiar with. Wijckmans began to ask some more in-depth technical questions. Harry paused. He looked confused. “Can I rejoin the meeting?” he asked. “I have a problem with my microphone.” Wakeman nodded and Harry disappeared.
A few minutes passed and I started to bother us to frighten him, but then he returned to the meeting. His connection is not good, but his answer is clearer. Maybe he restarted the chatbot, or found a colleague to guide him. The call lasts for a few more minutes and we say goodbye.
Our next applicant calls themselves “Nic.” On his resume, he has a link to a personal website, but the guy doesn’t look like a profile photo on the website. This is his second interview with Wijckmans, and we are sure he is forging it: he is one of the applicants for the background check that failed after the first call, although he doesn’t know.
Nick’s English is worse than Harry’s: When he asked what time it is now, he told us it was “six and past”, and then corrected himself and said “quarters to seven.” Where does he live? “I’m in Ohio now,” he’s like a kid who got the right one in a popular quiz.
