Screening reveals disturbing rate of CV fraud

ONE in five job seekers in South Africa has a criminal record, negative credit history, false qualification or a fake driving licence, the latest Background Screening Index has revealed.

The index, commissioned by the Managed Integrity Evaluation (MIE), is based on the findings of 2.3 million checks done last year and covers all spheres of the economy, including the private and public sector.

Ilizna Botha, a managing director of a Durban-based recruitment agency, is not surprised by the findings.

“The employment industry is highly competitive and candidates with qualifications are more employable than candidates who do not have any sort of training,” she said.

“In the past few years, the agency has experienced a growing trend of fake matric certificates and diplomas from unrecognisable institutions.

“Job seekers are desperate to make ends meet and if it means faking a qualification or a certificate, they are willing to take that chance,” said Botha.

Her agency has employed strict screening checks to make sure fake qualifications, driving licences and criminal records are detected before a candidate registers with the agency.

MIE chief executive Ina van der Merwe said this figure may very well increase as the economy came under increased pressure.

Reality

“The reality is that the number of job seekers is growing disproportionately to the number of jobs available in the market. This discrepancy fuels the prevalence of CV fraud. Moving forward, there are likely to be more elaborations and falsifications, as well as deliberate omissions,” said Van der Merwe. The index revealed that: 16 percent of job seekers had criminal records, ranging from violent crimes, such as arson, assault and child abuse, to narcotic crimes and white-collar crimes, such as bribery;

21 percent of all job seekers screened had negative credit histories covering debt reviews and defaults;

16 percent had embellished qualifications on their CVs. More than 38 percent of all matric certificates may be faked; and

30 percent of all driving licences, verified by MIE, were fake.

Van der Merwe said companies had a duty to do background screening checks at regular intervals.

“Times change and an employee who has a clean criminal record or valid driving licence on hiring may not be in the same position a week, a month or a year later.

“The old sayings of ‘better safe than sorry’ and ‘prevention is better than cure’ apply here, and ongoing HR screening policies provide the basis for a more effective and robust risk management profile,” she said.