The Better Hiring Institute is calling for standardised approaches to what documents are checked, how they are checked, and when they are checked.
Over the past few years there has been a dramatic increase in identity fraud. In November 2022, the UK’s fraud prevention service, Cifas, reported that identity fraud cases are up 34%on the same period for 2021, and up 23% on pre-pandemic levels. The qualitative change in fraudulent documents means that it is essentially impossible for the naked eye to spot fraudulent documents. Simultaneously, there is a growing concern from work-seekers on how to protect their identities.
With the rise in digital there are more solutions available to help employers verify the validity of documents, although there is a lack of consistency of what documents are required at application stage, as well as what part of the hiring stage they are being requested.
The Better Hiring Institute is calling for more standardised approaches to what documents are checked, how they are checked, and when they are checked. The Better Hiring Institute is also working with the UK Identity Fraud Advisory (UKIFA) to support business and protect work seekers from identity theft.
The UK Identity Fraud Advisory (UKIFA) exists to protect individuals from identity fraud and to help business identify fake identity documents.
As part of the recruitment process, organisations collect copies of original documents to verify candidate details such as identity and proof of address. There are many fake documents in circulation and websites offering to create fake documents, therefore vigilance is required. An excellent source of free help and advice for organisations is The UK Identity Fraud Advisory (UKIFA)
If you are using an employee screening company it is worth ensuring they are using UKIFA on your behalf.
