a popular scam that some big companies pull off is to keep posting job ads all over places like linkedin and company websites, but they never actually hire the people who apply

they show a huge number of open jobs in hundreds, while bragging about their “big hiring push” in a bid to trick investors / vcs
when the investors / vcs see all those job postings, they think the company is expanding super fast and needs more workers right away which makes the investors / vcs excited and willing to pour in even more cash to help the “growth” keep going, even though it's mostly just fake ads to look good on paper
for example, in 2025, the u.s. federal trade commission sued care․com for deceptive ads overstating job availability and earnings which led to an $8.1m+ refund to affected seekers
also, a credible poll from 2024 found 40% of companies admitted posting fake job listings that year, with 30% keeping non-existent roles advertised often to build talent pools or appear active to stakeholders
so the next time you see repeated job ads from companies, just know it might be a scam to fool the folks with money and you