AI job scams are booming – and one fooled me. Here’s how to avoid them

TThere were hints here from the start that it was too good to be true. A headhunter emailed me with a job offer – a journalist position at “a leading U.S. technology and market writing team.” The opportunity, she said, was part of a confidential expansion and was not publicly disclosed.

My spider sense was tingling, but the timing was right. Since my maternity leave was coming to an end, I was looking for a new job. At first the email appeared to be legitimate. When I Googled the sender, I found a headhunter with the same name and profile picture on LinkedIn, and the message was clearly tailored to me: it referenced several roles I’ve previously held and identified my specific areas of expertise. “Your focus on the real-world impact of AI, digital culture and the gig economy fits perfectly with a high-priority internal mandate that I manage,” the headhunter wrote.

I sent back an email. The headhunter asked me to send in my CV along with my salary expectations, preferably…