Manager gaslighting is about the salary for the vacancy in our team

Had a rough 12 months with my employer, while i was on vacation, my manager handed in her notice and was granted immediate release. We were a 2 man team and i was 3 days into my 10 day vacation. I came back to a mess, we still haven’t really recovered from, they decided to pit the “team” together with another team of similar size and the manager now manages both teams and split responsibilities.

We do not have the staff to cope, it is a 2 person job. It took months to get them to agree to a new hire, and they have struggled for almost 6 months to find someone. We had a pay rise a few months ago, which was under my expectations, however our bonus for the year took me over what i would’ve earned if i got the pay rise i expected so i decided in the short term it was a compromise i could handle.

My issue is i keep finding the job adverts for the position and they are listing salaries much higher than mine and when i address it, they basically try and gaslight me and say its not their advert, or they say the recruiter has got the details wrong. I work in a particularly niche environment and there are almost no other firms in the area who specialise in my line of work . The chances that these adverts are for other firms are incredibly low. Also i have applied for these jobs in the past, and the vacancies either disappear or i get no response . Like I said, its a niche role and very few people have direct experience in it. Therefore, i am an ideal candidate for the role if it is for another company as its what i do currently.

Today Ive found another vacancy that is identical to what we’re looking for (and what i do) which would be a significant increase in pay. Ive had it, i could apply but theres a solid chance it’ll disappear and i wont get a response again.

Instead I’ve contacted the recruiter for more information under an alias to see if i can get them to fess up. If they confirm its my company, how do i end all this nonsense? Ive considered applying officially under the alias, our policy is always a video interview first, but i get that i probably wont get a favourable outcome when my manager pops up and sees me on screen. Or do i just confront them with the advert once again?