by Jenny Reid

With unemployment rates continuing to escalate and the cost-of-living soaring people are increasingly desperate to find work and will stop at nothing to get their job application to the top of the pile.

It is incredibly simple to falsify employment references, so much so that there are thousands of memes and videos of people doing just that. If references are easy enough to fake that people are joking about it, references need to be verified, now more than ever.

Jenny Reid, the founder of iFacts, is urging organisations not to take any information at face value. This includes CV reference details on job applications. Reid said that it was now essential to verify information provided on CVs, as more and more reference houses are appearing, as well as fake information on job applications.

Reference houses are typically set up to supply false information directly to a potential employer on behalf of an applicant in exchange for money, says Reid.

The criminals themselves will even go as far as to answer phone calls to confirm a candidate’s history and/or qualifications. They may also conduct their fraudulent operation via a website, giving the impression of a legitimate company, to alleviate any suspicions during the all-important pre-employment screening checks.

They have been found to have created a fully fraudulent CV with references, qualifications, etc., that were all verified via their contact details.

References are an essential part of any pre-employment process but can also be one of the most tedious parts of the hiring process and, as such, are often skipped.

There are international online screening tools where data can be input and automatically processed but at iFacts, we have found these are not always as accurate as one might hope. Along with reference houses, various other methods are available to try and manipulate the reference checking system, thus making proper verification of references, more difficult still.

Some of the more common methods used are:

Providing a false telephone number / direct telephone to a pre-determined reference at a previous employer. This means that when doing the check, no verification is done that the candidate worked directly for the individual and the reference can be biased or a complete lie.

Falsifying employment dates because the candidate has something to hide. One of the cases where verification was done found that the candidate had served time in prison and simply adjusted the years of employment.

Not providing details of a previous employer because they do not want the reason for leaving the company discovered.

Falsifying job responsibilities. In South Africa many candidates believe that past employers will not provide a reference because it is not legally required, and they exaggerate their qualifications and experience. This may only be uncovered during a thorough employee screening process that includes qualification verification and skills testing this will be uncovered.

Falsifying details of previous employers, including false websites and email addresses.

Providing different details on a job application to that on social media sites, particularly LinkedIn. This should automatically be part of a reference check.

If an applicant is found to have provided a false reference to gain employment, their integrity should immediately come into question.

However, if the fraudulent act goes under the radar during the pre-employment stage, the candidate could be the employee that costs not only money but the company’s reputation in the future.

Thorough employment reference checks need to be done in order to verify everything a candidate has offered is the truth. Failing to do comprehensive reference verifications could result in your company’s reputation falling into disrepute.

Jenny Reid is a Human Risk Expert and Professional Speaker, and the owner of iFacts based in South Africa, a specialist employee screening and vetting service. She is constantly assessing new and innovative ways to remove the people risk in any organisation. Since 2009 when she took over iFacts completely, she has seen the company double in size and hopes to continue this growth. iFacts specializes in employee Screening, risk assessments, employee wellness, investigations, and truth verification. Jenny is a past President of the Security Association of South Africa. Contact Jenni via email jenny@ifacts.co.za