There is a big gulf between "fake" and "never filled" that I don't like being washed here.
Specifically, there are plenty of reasons you might have a position not get filled that are not nefarious. Could be an aspirational. Could be a company that is so under water that they can't manage a hiring pipeline. Could be one that isn't under water, but doesn't know how to manage a hiring pipeline. Could have been overcome by other events. Plenty of options.
Yes, I'm sure there is some fraud. I'd love to see data that went into that detail. I'm assuming it is rather lower than 1 in 5.
In general, some people want ghost-workers for working visa scams.
i.e. some desperate individuals pay to not even work in a country to get around immigration rules.
This scam was outed by some undercover East Indian journalists. Its gross because cons exploit people, and suppress domestic economic reality by bidding down wage rates. Nothing was done about this by the way... nothing... =3
If companies were as honest about "low priority" evergreen work over the constant need help immediately, that may be acceptable. But I've never see anyone say that in a job posting. If you're indistinguishable from the behavior of a fraudster, that still reflects poorly and has the same results on applicants.
(well, okay. Actually honest. How many of those "urgent" postings eve felt urgent?)
Specifically, there are plenty of reasons you might have a position not get filled that are not nefarious. Could be an aspirational. Could be a company that is so under water that they can't manage a hiring pipeline. Could be one that isn't under water, but doesn't know how to manage a hiring pipeline. Could have been overcome by other events. Plenty of options.
Yes, I'm sure there is some fraud. I'd love to see data that went into that detail. I'm assuming it is rather lower than 1 in 5.