How to Know It's Really Us
Recruitment scams, and how to check that you are talking to People ATX.
Why this page exists
Criminals impersonate executive search firms. They use real firm names, real recruiter names, and real logos to make fake job opportunities look legitimate, then ask targets for money or personal information.
This could happen to People ATX's name, and to every search firm in our industry. We would rather tell you plainly how we work than have you find out the hard way.
What People ATX will never do
These are commitments, not guidelines. If something contradicts this list, it is not us.
- We will never ask you for money. Not a fee, not a deposit, not a background check charge, not a training cost, not "processing." Our clients pay us. Candidates never pay us anything, at any stage, for any reason.
- We will never ask for your bank account, credit card, or wire details.
- We will never ask you to buy anything (e.g., equipment, software, or gift cards, or to accept and forward a payment on our behalf).
- We will never ask for your Social Security number, driver's license, or passport during recruiting conversations.
- We will never conduct an entire process by text or chat app. You will speak with a partner.
- We will never extend an offer without a real conversation with a People ATX partner.
- We only email from @peopleatx.com. Never Gmail, Outlook.com, iCloud, or a lookalike domain.
Warning signs
The approach:
- A message out of the blue from someone you do not recognize, on WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, iMessage, Facebook Messenger, or a personal email account
- An email domain that is almost right, such as peopleatx.co, people-atx.com, peopleatxsearch.com, peopIeatx.com (capital I in place of the lowercase L)
- A LinkedIn profile with few connections, no history, or a photo that looks like stock imagery
- A recruiter who will not get on a phone call
The offer:
- Compensation that is obviously too high for the role
- An offer made with no interview, or after one short chat
- Extreme urgency: "we need your details today," "the role closes tonight"
- A remote role with unusually generous terms and a vague employer
The ask:
- Any request for money, however it is framed
- Banking, payment card, or wire information
- Government ID, Social Security number, or date of birth early in the process
- A request to install software or "onboarding" tools
- Instructions to keep the opportunity confidential from everyone
AI-assisted impersonation. Fraudsters now use cloned voices and generated video to make calls and interviews look real. A convincing voice or face on a video call is not proof of identity. If anything about the conversation contradicts this page, verify it using the steps under "How to verify you are actually talking to us" below before acting.
How to verify you are actually talking to us
Do not use contact details supplied by the person who contacted you. That is the whole trick. Verify independently:
- Go to peopleatx.com yourself, type it, do not click a link in the message and use the contact details published there.
- Email hello@peopleatx.com and ask whether the person and the search are real. We will tell you.
- Check the sender's full email address, not the display name. Display names are trivial to fake.
- Check the People ATX team page to confirm the person actually works here.
- If you are already in a conversation and something feels wrong, stop and contact us. You will not offend anyone. We would much rather answer a question than see someone lose money.
No legitimate opportunity is harmed by taking an hour to verify it. Anyone pressuring you not to check is telling you what they are.
If you have received a suspicious message
Do not:
- Reply, or continue the conversation
- Click links or open attachments
- Send money, financial details, or identity documents
- Install anything you were asked to install
Do:
- Report and block the sender using the platform's reporting tool
- Tell us at hello@peopleatx.com. Forward the message with full headers if you can. It helps us track how our name is being used and warn others.
If you have already sent money or personal information:
- Contact your bank or card issuer immediately. Speed matters more than anything else here, some transfers can be recalled within a short window.
- Report to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov (https://reportfraud.ftc.gov).
- Report to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov (https://www.ic3.gov). Do this even if the amount seems small; IC3 data is how these networks get traced.
- Consider a credit freeze with Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion if you disclosed identity information.
- Tell us. We cannot recover your money, but we can document the impersonation and report it.
A note on what we are and are not responsible for
People ATX does not control and is not responsible for communications sent by people impersonating us, and we cannot recover losses arising from them. We publish this page so that anyone dealing with someone claiming to represent PeopleATX can check that claim against how we actually work.
Questions: hello@peopleatx.com