Check out host Bidemi Ologunde's new show: The Work Ethic Podcast, available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

In this episode, host Bidemi Ologunde pulls back the curtain on a fast-growing threat to U.S. remote hiring: applicants who claim they live in the United States, but are actually overseas, using semi-synthetic or fully legitimate personas complete with U.S. VOIP numbers, "real" apartment-complex addresses, credible degrees, and high-engagement LinkedIn profiles.

Why are so many suspicious profiles tracing back to Nigeria, India, and Pakistan: is it simply population scale, or are there specific enablers that make these routes more common? What changes when the motive shifts from "get paid in dollars" to something darker—organized crime, state-sponsored access, or even sanctions-evasion tactics modeled after North Korea's fake IT worker playbook? And how might post-2024 policy shifts, including tighter visa and travel restrictions, be reshaping the incentives and tactics behind this trend?

Bidemi explores what these schemes mean for insider risk, why traditional background checks can fail in a remote-first world, and what leadership teams should do now to harden hiring pipelines—before the next "perfect candidate" becomes the next breach.

Email: bidemiologunde@gmail.com

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