AI-Generated Job Applicant Impersonation in Japanese Recruitment
Japanese companies KOWRO and AI Square encountered online job applicants using AI-generated deepfake video and voice to impersonate candidates in recruitment interviews. The same synthetic applicant appeared at multiple companies with identical face, voice and speech patterns, and experts suspect the incidents may involve North Korean IT personnel attempting to infiltrate companies for financial gain or cyber attacks.", <parameter name="event_date">2026-07
What happened
KOWRO, a Tokyo-based AI entertainment company, conducted an online job interview with a male applicant who claimed about 9 years of experience in network systems development and said he had participated in global AI product development.
During the interview, the interviewer noticed the applicant's lips and voice were out of sync, his eyes were constantly shifting, he used unnatural pauses in conversation, and he misread the company name 'KOWRO' as 'COLO'. When asked directly if he was using AI, the applicant denied it and attributed the discrepancies to internet lag, but then used an unnaturally formal term to refer to himself.
KOWRO representative Harada Yuji stated he was uncertain throughout whether the person was real or AI-generated until the interview ended. Later, AI Square representative Hori Tomohiko identified the same face, voice and speaking style in a candidate who had appeared at his company's online interview in late July.
IT journalist Mikami Yo noted that the incidents may be related to North Korean IT personnel impersonating foreign technology workers. Such cases could involve actors obtaining both income and company confidential information, potentially using the latter for ransomware attacks or other cyber attacks.
Reported impact
According to 11 countries' joint warning issued in July, North Korean IT personnel using AI and other techniques to impersonate others and participate in online job interviews involved approximately 5,000 companies and over 6,500 interview instances.
Index analysis
Some real-time AI face-replacement technology focuses primarily on facial substitution, and may fail to correctly handle occlusion when a hand partially blocks the face, potentially causing image distortion or other unnatural effects.
Governance controls
Experts recommend that companies conducting online interviews can ask applicants to move their hand in front of their face to observe for anomalies in the video. Additionally, companies should be alert if applicants request payment in cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or specify bank accounts not in their own name.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.