When you hire a name but get someone else behind the screen. 

In the IT outsourcing world, few practices are as deceptive, yet as common, as the dummy profile culture. 
It’s the quiet trick behind many “fast hires” and “expert teams.” 

The story usually begins with good intent, a company needs to fill a role quickly for a client project.

The clock is ticking. ⌛  

So someone pulls out a resume that fits perfectly, polished experience, confident certifications, impressive project list.

The interview goes well.

The client signs off.

But when the real work starts… the person you interviewed isn’t the one doing the work. 

How It Happens 

It’s not always as simple as fraud, it’s a system built on shortcuts.

An agency wins a project but doesn’t have the right talent ready.

They “borrow” profiles from another partner, or worse, from a shared resume pool.

The client thinks they’re onboarding a senior developer, but in reality, the work is passed to someone else often with less skill, less context, and zero accountability. 

And it doesn’t stop there.

Some time the dummy profile chain can involve:

• subcontractors,
• sub-subcontractors,
• individual freelancers hidden behind brand names.

By the time the actual developer touches the code, the project has already passed through hands that never truly owned it. 

The Client’s Hidden Risk 

From the client’s side, everything seems fine at first.

Calls happen. Updates come in. Tasks move on paper.

But soon, cracks start to show, misaligned communication, slower progress, unfamiliarity with details that were “already discussed.”

That’s when reality sinks in: the person you interviewed isn’t the one writing your code. 

Beyond the frustration, this creates serious risks:

➝ Confidentiality breaches

➝ Delayed timelines

➝ Poor code quality

➝ No continuity if the “real” developer leaves suddenly 

The client pays premium rates expecting expertise, but often receives junior-level delivery at senior-level pricing.

Why It Happens 

At its core, dummy profiling grows from one thing, greed over value.

When the goal becomes filling seats instead of building solutions, ethics take a back seat.

Many firms justify it as “normal industry practice” or “temporary resourcing.”

But there’s nothing temporary about broken trust.

The Developer’s Side 

Surprisingly, the ones writing the actual code are victims too.

They’re underpaid, often unaware of the real client expectations, and lack direct communication.

They can’t deliver excellence because they’re kept in the dark, a cog in a silent chain of deception. 

The end result?

• The client feels cheated.
• The developer feels exploited.
• And the middle layers profit briefly; at the cost of long-term credibility.

Building Back Transparency 

The only real fix is honesty. 

Clients must demand clarity, Who exactly is working on my project?  
And companies must have the courage to say no when they can’t deliver with the right people. 

Outsourcing should be about collaboration, not camouflage. 
And transparency shouldn’t just be a promise, it should be a standard.