CrossingHurdles.com Under Fire: Fake Jobs & AI Data Harvesting Scheme
- Collin Christenbury
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Heads-up to the creative community: CrossingHurdles.com is being slammed for allegedly deceiving job seekers in a bold new way. This platform, which posts eye-popping creative roles (think content creators, animators, video editors, social media managers with $50–$80/hr rates), is accused of running an “AI interview” scheme that harvests candidates’ ideas and data – with no real hires ever made. Complaints on Reddit, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn are painting a damning picture of a company that appears more interested in training AI than in hiring humans.
AI Interviews or Data-Mining Ruse?
Instead of a normal interview process, applicants are funneled into prerecorded Q&A sessions with a bot. One LinkedIn user exposed that these so-called “assessments” are really just data-mining schemes, using your “interview” to train AI models for freelinkedin.com
. In fact, a CrossingHurdles job listing openly admits the “application process” includes a “short 20-min AI interview” rather than any real conversationinfluencermarketingsociety.com
. The entire setup looks like a ploy to extract knowledge from candidates (their work processes, ideas, even facial/vocal data) under the guise of a job interview.
Fake Job Listings & No Actual Hires
Many of these job postings feel too good to be true – and according to community reports, they are. A Redditor noted that CrossingHurdles “put[s] out jobs that people want in order to train their AI interview tools”reddit.com
. Roles with ridiculously high pay (e.g. Remote Video Editor at $72/hr) attract hundreds of hopeful creatives, yet there’s zero ROI for them: no callbacks, no real offers, nothing. On Glassdoor, one frustrated reviewer wrote, “I can’t find anyone who actually got a job through this company. Most say it’s a scam to train their AI.”glassdoor.com
Another review bluntly warned: “It’s a scam. Do not go through [the] AI interview. They will steal your insight and never hire you.”glassdoor.com
These aren’t isolated gripes either – countless applicants across multiple platforms report the same experience of being strung along for an “interview” with no tangible result.
Community Outrage on Reddit, Glassdoor, LinkedIn
The backlash is fierce. On Reddit, users have branded CrossingHurdles a “fake entity… created to farm video interviews for the purposes of training their AI on the backs of job seekers.”reddit.com
Some even liken it to a “Builder.ai-type scandal” – essentially an Indian startup running fake interviews to train real AI modelsreddit.com
. Redditors are emphatic: “Never, ever do a video interview where the interviewer is not a live human. You are being used.”reddit.com
Over on LinkedIn, professionals are posting PSAs about this scheme as well. One widely-shared post called out Mercor (the tech firm linked to CrossingHurdles) and listed Crossing Hurdles among the “dishonorable mentions” to steer clear oflinkedin.com
. The sentiment is echoed across threads and comments: creative folks are fed up with wasting time on what appears to be a giant bait-and-switch.
Snarky hot-take: CrossingHurdles.com seems to have missed the memo that job listings are supposed to lead to jobs. Instead, they’re busy crossing every ethical hurdle in the book – from phony job posts to exploitative AI interviews – all to feed their tech. It’s as if they saw the talent and creativity of job seekers as cheap fuel for an algorithm. 🚩 Red flags, anyone? 🚩
Bottom line: This is a loud PSA for all content creators and creative professionals – stay vigilant. If a gig promises sky-high pay for minimal work and then shuffles you into an automated interview, smell the scam. The creative community is urging others to share their experiences and avoid platforms like CrossingHurdles.com. Don’t let your hard-earned skills and ideas be harvested under false pretenses. Spread the word, look out for each other, and let’s slam the door on these shady practices before they snare any more victims. 🛑 Have you or someone you know dealt with this? Speak up and spread the warning – our community thrives when we protect one another.
Sources: (public posts and reviews documenting these issues)
Glassdoor – Crossing Hurdles employee reviews (Sep–Oct 2025)glassdoor.com
Reddit – r/mercor_ai thread “Mercor jobs via Crossing Hurdles” (Nov 2025)reddit.com
Reddit – r/WebDeveloperJobs thread “Any luck with Mercor or Crossing Hurdles?”reddit.com
LinkedIn – James Bernal post “Warning: Avoid Mercor and other fake job scams” (2025)linkedin.com