[alexanderh]

>I'm not sure if these people are a small step up from the call center scammers because at least they deliver something or a small step down because they're supposedly capable enough to do better.

This is what I don't understand.... They have the skills (supposedly).. I mean sure, if they are foreign developers they wont always be getting the best pay or opportunities in their own country... But I have never seen a startup shy away from hiring foreign development teams in the past, so long as they do good work. I have a hard time believing they are competent enough to do good work, but with a complete lack of valid, legal and morally sound opportunities.

I also have such a hard time believing this type of fraud is actually all that profitable or pans out successfully often enough to make it worth it... Are companies really doing that little due diligence?

On the flip side, I also hate that the interview process for valid candidates is turning into a 3 ring circus of hoop jumping because of scams like this. Companies really need to find the right balance between due diligence and not making interviews absolutely absurd and insulting.

[UncleMeat]

What do you think the likelihood that they have skills actually is? If this was just "I have poor english language skills" then they could at least point companies at their real portfolio of code. And somebody who has poor enough english skills that they need to hire a fake interviewee is not going to be able to write effective documentation or communicate with the contracting company when requirements change or need to be clarified.

[moonchrome]

Could be competent but do a shit job at 3-4 places at once, wait for the onboarding to end and move on to the next target, then let the US counterpart deal with the fallout. Sounds like decent money for not a lot of work if you can swindle enough candidates.

And also let's face it - you can get away with 1/3 effective work time in most places - especially if you have someone making excuses, socializing, attending this-should-have-been-an-email meetings for you full time - and for a 30% cut.

[galaxyLogic]

> They have the skills (supposedly)..

But they are not accountable. If things go bad it does not affect their reputation since their id is fake.

They could be criminals who want to plant malware into your product. Or steal your passwords. Since they're working under false id in another part of the world it's hard to arrest them.

Employers are willing to pay a bigger salary if they think they have someone in the same country under same jurisdiction.