Ask HN: Anyone ever get rejection letters from companies they didn't apply to?

#1

Post by I_dev_outdoors » Wed, Nov 02, 2022, 5:45 PM UTC

I got one from greenhouse today saying that a company I've never heard of is no longer considering my application. Is this some kind of H1B fraud? Is it a recruiter just submitting my resume? Something else?

Re: Ask HN: Anyone ever get rejection letters from companies they didn't apply to?

#2

Post by _0ffh » Wed, Nov 02, 2022, 5:55 PM UTC

I have read before that some people apply for remote jobs using other people's credentials that they have collected from publicly available sources like home-pages, etc.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone ever get rejection letters from companies they didn't apply to?

#3

Post by cheapliquor » Wed, Nov 02, 2022, 5:57 PM UTC

_0ffh wrote: post #2

I have read before that some people apply for remote jobs using other people's credentials that they have collected from publicly available sources like home-pages, etc.

This immediately came to mind https://connortumbleson.com/2022/09/19/someone-is-pretending...

Re: Ask HN: Anyone ever get rejection letters from companies they didn't apply to?

#4

Post by CM30 » Wed, Nov 02, 2022, 7:59 PM UTC

Hmm, is it definitely your application with your personal details? I've had a few instances where someone with the same name (and a very similar email address) accidentally used my email address instead of theirs when signing up for things online. So maybe they used your email by mistake or something, especially if you're using something like Gmail for it.

If it's definitely based on your details, then yeah, impersonation seems likely.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone ever get rejection letters from companies they didn't apply to?

#5

Post by I_dev_outdoors » Wed, Nov 02, 2022, 8:25 PM UTC

CM30 wrote: post #4

Hmm, is it definitely your application with your personal details? I've had a few instances where someone with the same name (and a very similar email address) accidentally used my email address instead of theirs when signing up for things online. So maybe they used your email by mistake or something, especially if you're using something like Gmail for it. If it's definitely based on your details, then yeah, imperson…

I have a pretty unique last name, and it was sent to last_name@gmail.com and the greenhouse email only had my first name in it so I don't know what other information was submitted.