BlogHow Real Talent protects candidates and companies from fraud in hiring
AI is reshaping hiring in ways that have sparked an unfortunate “doom loop,” frustrating candidates and recruiters alike. Good candidates are doing their best in a tough, competitive job market, and many are using AI tools to navigate the systems evaluating them. Recruiters are using AI to navigate the volume of applications and to find and hire top talent. Neither side set out to create this dynamic, but both are paying the price as sophisticated bad actors exploit technology in the hiring process in ways that were unthinkable just a few years ago.
This is why we built Real Talent – the new Greenhouse solution to help companies cut through the overwhelm at the top of their hiring funnel, while reducing risk from spam, fraud and misrepresentation.
Our goal is simple: reduce the noise, increase transparency and rebuild trust at the top of the hiring funnel without adding friction or punishing legitimate candidates.
As Real Talent is nearing general availability, we’re sharing a closer look on how it helps protect the integrity of the hiring process for everyone involved.
What Real Talent actually does about fraud
Fraud signals you can see and act on
Real Talent analyzes a candidate’s phone number, email, IP address and location to identify objective signals that may indicate risk. These signals are grouped into categories like strong indicators, minor indicators and authenticity markers so recruiters understand what was flagged and how to interpret it.
This context is important. A VOIP number – an internet-based phone number that’s easy to create – might be unusual, but it’s not fraudulent. A location mismatch might be worth checking, but it doesn’t tell the full story. That’s why we keep recruiters in control: no application is ever automatically rejected and no decision is made without human review.
What gets flagged:
- Mismatched location and IP address.
- Invalid or suspicious contact information (including disposable or VOIP numbers).
- Unusual network activity or repeated patterns across multiple applicants.
How it shows up:
- Risk signals appear in App Review and the candidate profile, with context for human review.
- Admins can maintain IP/email blocklists to keep obvious spam out of the pipeline.
- Recruiters can tag, deprioritize or block flagged applications – while keeping control over every disposition.
An important note on AI use: Fraud signals in Real Talent do not use AI to make decisions. Instead, they surface objective data so people can make better calls, faster. Think of them as helpful context and explanations, not verdicts.
Why reducing fraud matters for both sides
Fraud is on the rise, and unfortunately, it makes life harder for legitimate candidates. When pipelines are full of noise, real people get stuck in backlogs. When employers lose confidence, even qualified candidates are second-guessed. When trust erodes, everyone feels it.
Real Talent is designed to reverse that trend.
We built Real Talent so recruiters stay firmly in charge. By removing obvious noise and surfacing objective signals, recruiters spend more time with genuine candidates and candidates benefit from a process that feels clearer, faster and more fair.
Where we are now – and what’s next
We’re in a closed beta, validating Real Talent workflows in real environments and refining the experience with early customers and our Advisory Council. Early feedback on fraud signals has been consistent: clearer context on why an application was flagged, less time sorting through obvious noise and confidence that decisions remain human and reviewable.
We’ll keep sharing learnings and expand access as we move toward general availability.
If you’d like to know more, join the Real Talent waitlist. Together, we can make hiring safer, more transparent and more human at the top of the funnel.
