A sharp rise in employment application fraud by middle-aged job-seekers is reported by Cifas, the counter-fraud trade association of banks, loan firms and insurers.
It’s found an overall increase in application fraud across all age groups of 8pc between January and September, from 133 to 143 cases compared to the same period last year. The majority of cases involved concealed adverse credit history (44pc), with concealed employment history (12pc) and concealed employment records (12pc) also contributing to the rising number of job application fraud cases. Falsified references have also risen from three to 17 since 2018.
Although most of the employment application fraud cases continue to be from younger people, because 21 to 30-year-olds make up the largest proportion at 41pc, when it came to CV-related fraud, the research found a significant rise amongst older people. The number of 31 to 40-year-olds involved in CV-related fraud over the last twelve months rose by 37pc, and is marginally higher at 38pc for 41 to 50-year-olds.
Why? The number of job vacancies in the UK has been steadily declining since the beginning of 2019; and divorced people in their 40s may be returning to work, maybe tempted to embellish their CV. However, some motives remain purely criminal, Cifas suggests, as it points to a cottage industry of websites offering fake degrees and essay writing services; which profits from employment application fraud.
Case study
The building society Nationwide told Cifas about a candidate who had applied for a job, and later admitted paying £1,200 to a company to falsify their CV and attend phone interviews on their behalf. Nationwide said they had witnessed several such cases, especially from candidates seeking daily rate contract work.
Mike Haley, Chief Executive Officer of Cifas, said: ‘In today’s competitive job market, it is tempting to lie or exaggerate on an application form or CV, but jobseekers need to be aware of the enormous personal risks this type of fraudulent behaviour carries. If you get caught making a fraudulent job application – regardless of whether you are offered the job or not – your details could be recorded on the Cifas Internal Fraud Database for six years. During this period, any job application you make could be searched against the database and potential employers made aware that you lied in previous job applications. At worst, you also risk facing a prison sentence, and so you need to ask yourself – is it worth the risk?’
