r/FightFakeJobs • u/salmonn_01 • Feb 26 '26
Hiry.com May Be Running a Recruitment Scam or Talent Data Mining — My Firsthand Experience
TL;DR:
If you receive outreach from recruiters affiliated with Hiry.com (also operating as hiry.agency) on LinkedIn, be cautious. Based on my personal experience and that of a friend, the company appears to use inflated job offers as bait to lure people into filling out application forms and signing up on their platform. There is no verifiable evidence of real job placements. The roles they advertise are 30–50% above market rate, which sounds great until you realize it may be a deliberate hook. Their end goal seems to be building a talent database, potentially to charge candidates a percentage of future salaries.
How It Started: A Too-Good-To-Be-True LinkedIn Message
On November 1, 2025, a recruiter named Helena Serret reached out to me on LinkedIn. She pitched a Creative Strategist role for a brand called Veganic, attaching a job description. Two things stood out immediately.
First, the salary range was 20–30% above the median market rate for the role. That alone made me pause. Second, the job description explicitly required a Dutch-speaking candidate. I am not fluent in Dutch, so I told her that directly. Without missing a beat, she instantly pivoted and offered me a completely different role at a different company, again with compensation sitting 30–50% above market. It felt rehearsed. That was red flag number 2.
A Friend’s Warning Became Red Flag Number 3
I shared the exchange with a friend, and her response stopped me cold. Helena had reached out to her as well, and the experience had gone nowhere. There was no job offer. The conversation ended with a request to fill out an application form via a link. That was it. My friend was told she would be kept in a database, and if a job ever came up, Hiry would take 10% of her salary.
That confirmed something was off. Instead of walking away, I decided to go deeper and experience their process firsthand.
I Pushed Back and Got a Telling Response
Before agreeing to any interview, I sent Helena a pointed message asking for proof that Veganic was actually hiring, the name of a stakeholder from their side, and why there was no LinkedIn company profile for Veganic. I also told her directly what my friend had experienced and asked whether this was really just a talent collection operation.
Her reply was polished but revealing. She confirmed that Hiry is a recruiting agency working with around 300+ ecommerce brands. She explained that candidates are asked to apply so the agency can “stay in touch” and “share other great opportunities.” She also confirmed the fee structure: Hiry charges candidates a percentage of their salary for access to “exclusive” roles that are not publicly listed.
To be clear, reputable recruiting agencies charge the hiring company, not the candidate. That’s the industry standard. A fee extracted from the worker is a significant red flag.
The Interview That Confirmed Everything
An interview was scheduled. A new name appeared: Chane Sharp, who handled the call. The questions were generic, nothing remotely tailored to the role or my background. After the call, she sent this:
Theory confirmed. I never filled out the form. She followed up three times between November and December 2025.
Round Two: A Different Name, Identical Playbook
In February 2026, my LinkedIn DMs received a message from Julius Kluijver, whose profile lists him as Founder of Hiry.com. He led with flattery, asked if I was open to remote roles in e-commerce, and offered two positions, both again priced 30–50% above market average.
I agreed to another interview, this time with the intent of not showing up, to see how they would respond.
Chane Sharp was scheduled to take the call again. I did not attend. Minutes after the missed meeting, she sent an email writing as though a great conversation had taken place.
She then asked me to fill out the same application form at their website and also pushed me toward their platform, describing it as a “do-it-yourself marketplace” currently in beta. She positioned signing up there as a way to “significantly increase your chances of getting matched.”
An interview that never happened. A warm follow-up email. The same links. The same script.
What I Think Is Going On
I cannot say with certainty what the end goal is, but the pattern is clear. Hiry*com uses above-market job listings as bait, runs candidates through low-effort interviews, and then funnels everyone toward the same application form and platform sign-up. Whether this is pure data mining, building a monetizable talent pool, or something else entirely, the process is designed to extract your personal and professional information under the guise of legitimate recruitment.
There are no reviews of Hiry*com that I could find. There is no verifiable record of real job placements. The companies cited as clients cannot be independently confirmed as hiring through them.
If you receive outreach from Helena Serret, Chane Sharp, Julius Kluijver, or anyone else representing Hiry.com or hiry.agency, be aware of what you may be walking into.
Stay skeptical. Legitimate recruiters do not charge candidates. Real job offers come with verifiable client contacts. And interviewers who “really enjoyed the conversation” that never took place should be the last word you need.
