“Your CV Has Moved On to the Next Stage” – A New Phone Scam

I recently got several calls with the same message: “Hello, I’m calling about recruitment. Your CV has moved on to the next stage. Please answer…” Recently I received several phone calls with a similar message: “Good morning, I’m calling about recruitment. Your CV has moved on to the next stage. Please answer the next call or confirm your details.” Sounds professional, doesn’t it? Except that… I haven’t sent out a single CV in at least fifteen years. And that is exactly what made me suspicious – how can anyone invite me to the next stage of recruitment when I’m not taking part in any process?

A new wave of “recruitment” scams

What looks like an ordinary call from an HR company is, more and more often, an organised phone scam. The scheme is simple: a “recruiter” calls and says your CV has been selected from among many candidates and that you only need to confirm a few details before moving on. Sometimes it is a short conversation, sometimes an SMS or e-mail with a link to a “candidate panel”. Some fraudsters even pose as well-known job portals – Pracuj.pl, OLX or Indeed – and use addresses or domains very similar to the originals (e.g. pracuj-pl.net, olx-jobs.info, career-portal.pro). In the background, phone number spoofing is at work – a technique that lets the caller impersonate any number, so that it looks like someone from Poland, or even from a specific company, is calling.

What is it all for?

It has nothing to do with recruitment. The goal is to extract data or install malware. Most often the scenario goes like this:

1. The caller says they need to confirm the data from your CV – first name, surname, PESEL number, home address, sometimes even your ID card number.
2. The next stage is sending a link to a “candidate panel”, where you are asked to log in or “sign a preliminary agreement”.
3. The link leads to a fake website that looks deceptively like a real job portal or recruitment company.
4. Once you have entered your data, contact is cut off. At that moment your data falls into the wrong hands: onto black markets, into criminals’ databases, or it is used to take out loans and subscriptions in your name.

Why does it work so well?

Because the fraudsters exploit the psychology of success and time pressure. You hear that “your CV has moved on” and you automatically feel that something has worked out. Even if you don’t remember where you sent your CV, you start wondering: “Maybe it’s that company from a month ago?”, “Maybe a friend passed it on?”. Before you can think logically, the caller asks for a “quick confirmation of your details”. Some of these calls are even recorded, so that the fraudsters have material in which you confirm your first name, surname or phone number. That is enough to impersonate you later in other conversations or voice verification systems.

What can you lose?

The losses can be very real.

• Identity – your data can be used to obtain a loan, buy a phone in instalments or open a bank account.
• Financial security – if you click the link and install an app, criminals may gain access to your mobile banking.
• Privacy – a full CV is a gold mine: address, phone number, work history, dates of birth – everything needed to build very convincing personalised scams.

How to protect yourself?

1. Keep a healthy dose of scepticism. If you are not looking for a job, no recruiter should be calling you.
2. Do not give out any personal data over the phone. Genuine recruitment companies always communicate by e-mail or through official platforms.
3. Do not click links in SMS messages or e-mails. Always check the domain address – e.g. pracuj.pl is something completely different from pracuj-pl.net.
4. Do not download apps from unknown sources. Under the pretext of a job interview, fraudsters often ask you to install a messenger or a “video call tool”.
5. Report the scam attempt. You can report it to CERT Polska (cert.pl) or your local police. It is also worth warning your friends on social media.
6. Reserve your PESEL number – since 2023 you can do this free of charge on gov.pl, which protects against your data being used to take out a loan.

Interestingly – the fraudsters are becoming more and more “industry-savvy”

Some calls are made by people who really know basic HR terms: they talk about a “competency profile”, a “qualification audition”, “candidate pre-selection”. Sometimes they even send PDF forms with the logo of a well-known employment agency. For many people such details create a false sense of authenticity – and that is enough to click a link or hand over their data on reflex.

And what next?

In my case – after the third such call – I blocked the number and checked whether others had had similar experiences. It was enough to type a fragment of the SMS into Google: “Your CV has moved on to the next stage of recruitment” – and dozens of forum posts popped up in which people described exactly the same scenario. That means one thing: the campaign is mass-scale and most likely automated. Bots call to check whether anyone picks up, and if so – they pass the call to a real fraudster.

Conclusions

Phone scams are evolving faster than most people realise. Just a few years ago, SMS messages about an “undelivered parcel” or a “delivery surcharge” reigned supreme. Now it is the turn of fake recruiters – because people looking for a job are naturally more trusting and more willing to talk. So if you get a message that your CV has moved on, and you haven’t applied for years – end the call and don’t click any links. It isn’t worth risking your data or money out of a moment’s curiosity. Summary: Nobody gets recruited by accident these days. If someone calls and says your CV “has moved on”, ask – for which company?, for what position?, when did I send my application?. In most cases the caller will not be able to answer. And that is the best proof that you have just come across a scam attempt.