Social engineering: when intelligence gathering poses as a headhunter

Key points, November 2026

• Same principle: a fake profile close to yours contacts you to map a team, an org chart, the tools in use and personal data useful for targeted attacks.
• What changed: AI-generated profile photos, messages personalised by language models, fake video interviews.
• Habits: check profile age and consistency, call the company through an official channel, never download or run anything for a "test", limit what your own profile shows.
• "Friends of friends" prove nothing: a compromised account can relay the request.