Candidate submitted a fake academic qualifications certificate

“The attached certificate is not issued by our institute. It seems to be a forged document.” That was what the institute’s Registrar wrote to us in response to our screening query.

The candidate’s permanent address and employment record checked out perfectly. However, the education institute he claimed to have graduated from declared that the academic qualifications certificate submitted was a fake and was not issued by them.

The candidate appeared to have impeccable credentials. The address checked out and its validity was confirmed in person by a neighbor who confirmed the candidate had lived there from birth. Academic qualifications were impressive and proved to be accurate and valid.

However, the previous employment proved problematic. Management there confirmed that the candidate had (a) provided false dates of tenure to make it appear of a significantly longer duration and (b) submitted a fake experience letter on the company’s headed paper complete with fake signature. The sad part of this case is that the employer had been satisfied with all aspects of the employee’s performance.

On speaking with a Director of the candidate’s previous employment, we discovered that he had been fired for gross dereliction of duty on several fronts. The individual would frequently go absent without leave and switch off his phone. Alcohol abuse was noted and may have been a contributory cause. Dishonest dealings with customers meant the company’s invoices went unpaid. Our investigations saved the new potential employer from making a serious hiring error.

Falsifying employment history is very commonplace

Another candidate had simply quit his previous position a few weeks earlier without warning, and without serving any notice to his employer.

The candidate claimed to have held a technical position with the previous employer. On checking, the employer stated that (a) the position held was not what the candidate claimed and (b) the letter of Appointment and Termination were both fake.

The previous employer of another candidate declared that related documentation had been tampered with and the original text had been amended to portray a far more favorable picture. Yet another confirmed that a candidate’s Experience Letter and Salary Slip were forgeries.

Lessons learned from our background screening experience

Those are just a few samples pulled at random from our files. Happily, the numbers of favorable reports outnumber the negative ones but the count indicates the necessity of performing at least basic checks. It should be an employer’s first line of defense.

Contact us today to find out more about our background screening services and how we can tailor them to suit your own requirements. We pride ourselves on our thoroughness and in satisfying even the most demanding of clients.