UK job boards are under constant attack from internet hackers and scammers putting recruiters and candidates at risk, according to the managing director of one of the US's biggest jobs boards.

Ted Daywalt, chief executive officer of VetJobs.com, a job board for US veterans, told Recruiter that two UK job boards had told him they had been hacked, although he refused to name them.

"These attacks are already going on here, but a lot of people don't want to talk about it because they are afraid people won't want to use their site," said Daywalt.

There were two main types of attacks on job boards, said Daywalt. The first was by other recruiters who wanted to get access to candidate details.

However, "the bigger problem" came from scammers, said Daywalt, where candidates were asked for bank account details under the pretext that they were needed for background checks. These details were then used to steal the person's identity and often their money.

Joe Slavin, chief executive of fish4, told Recruiter that because of the sensitive nature of the information they held, fish4 was a target. However, he said that the company used an external company to ensure that its security was up to date.

Slavin admitted that there were some fraudsters who picked on candidates who were "a bit naïve" and added that recruiters needed to educate them to the dangers.

An employee of a UK job board, who attended the onrec.com online recruitment trade conference, at which Daywalt spoke in early March, said he was only now aware of the threat. However, the employee, who wished to remain anonymous, was far from reassuring about the level of job board security.

"It's easy to get into other job board websites. It isn't a very secure environment," he told Recruiter. He advised recruiters to change login details whenever a consultant left their company.