The headhunter scam is a form of social engineering. Cybercriminals pretend to be recruiters or headhunters in order to deliberately deceive professional contacts. The aim is to obtain confidential information or spread malware – usually through manipulated links or file attachments.
Criminals often approach their victims through professional networks such as LinkedIn or email. They offer seemingly attractive job offers and try to gain the trust of the person addressed. Typical procedure:
Employees with technical roles, admin access or business-critical rights – especially in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) where security processes are not always seamless.
