How do I know that candidates for my job offer are who they say they are?

In high-volume recruiting challenges, it can be difficult to tackle the high level of fraudulent applicants. When you’re faced with high volumes of unreliable and unqualified candidates, how do you create a better selection process? One solution is to check IDs on all new applicants and compare them against their resume information. This will help weed out those who are not qualified or reliable enough for your business.

This article will discuss some tips for verifying your applicant’s identity to make sure they are who they say they are!

What are fraudulent applicants?

Fraudulent applicants are those who lie on their resumes to obtain a job. These candidates might claim high-level experience and credentials that they don’t actually possess, or pose as someone else entirely with the same name and qualifications.

It might be even more challenging for high-volume hiring companies where the job itself does not require a solid CV or background. For these companies, the main issue is the manpower it takes to check all the applicants in a time-efficient and secure way.

At the same time, a job that doesn’t require a certain skill or education is also much more attractive to people with a bad track record or criminal background. Many of these jobs are also remote and online, and a proper interview might not even take place which makes it even harder to decide if the applicant is fraudulent or not.

That’s when ID- and identity checking becomes a crucial step early in the application process.

Why should high-volume recruiting companies check IDs?

There are many reasons why it’s important to verify IDs for high-volume hiring. This is especially true in certain industries like IT or engineering, where candidates might need to provide proof of their expertise and knowledge.

Companies like Microsoft have taken steps toward verifying that new employees really do hold the qualifications they claim on their resumes by requiring all job candidates to present a government ID before an interview takes place; then only allowing one candidate per position, thus cutting down time spent interviewing unqualified people.

What can recruiters do to keep fraudsters out?

Put a disclaimer on your job posting that states you will be checking the candidate’s IDs.
Request that candidates provide their contact information, educational background, and previous work experience.
Ask for recommendations from past employers or coworkers to verify the candidate’s identity.
Check the social media profiles of the person applying to make sure they are who they say they are.
Have a phone interview with applicants before hiring them to make sure it is a good fit.
Consider using an ID- and identity verification service provider like Evalid which can confirm that people are who they claim to be.

Checking social media accounts

Look for a Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter account that matches the resume. You can also search Google to see if they have an online presence.

If you find social media accounts belonging to your applicant, check them out and see which one is most recent. This will tell you whether this person is still active on their profiles! However, social media does not verify a person’s identity. The use of fictitious accounts is on the rise.

Use an independent application verify their identity supporting official government issued documents. This way you can be sure that they are who they say they are!

Arrange a video call to see someones face

An image tells more than a thousand words. If you’re hiring remotely, arrange a video call so that you can see your applicant and verify their identity with your own eyes.

There are many free tools available to have a video call online, like Google Meet and Zoom.

If your applicant can be interviewed over video call, arrange one so that you can see them directly – facial expressions reveal more than words!

Check references before you hire them

This is a big one: reference checks! Call the people who they say are their past employers. If you get an answer from someone claiming to be their boss, ask for information like how long and where they worked so that you can verify this information with public records or other sources.

Use an employment verification service

If you cannot check references yourself, you can consider using an employment verification service. These services will verify an applicant’s education and work history for you and let you know if they’re telling the truth or not. This is particularly useful when you’re hiring someone remotely and don’t know if the person is a fraudster or legit.

Verify the identity of your applicant

You shouldn’t hire anybody without verifying their identity first! This is important because you don’t want someone with a stolen identity working for you. This can bring your company many unnecessary risks, like fraud, theft or embezzlement.

To conduct your own simplified identity verification, you can try to obtain a copy of their driver’s license or passport.

If you’re hiring an international applicant, ask for a photocopy of their visa or work permit too! Verify their phone number, email address, age and location along with their identity.

Different ways of identifying a fake provided ID

The most common way to identify someone is by looking at their driver’s license or similar government-issued ID documents. The criminals who are creating fake IDs are getting better and better and it can sometimes be hard to tell if it is a real or fake document. However, there are many ways that you can tell if your ID is fake. First, always check the name of the applicant if it differs from what’s on the ID. A real state-issued ID will have a hologram and/or laser engraving of the state seal or other identifying marks, the fake IDs usually don’t have these.

Fake IDs often have misspellings or incorrect information on them because they were made in a hurry and without quality control checks. Also, if looking closely at the edges of the ID document, they might not be accurately cut or have some flaws. Same with symmetry and alignment of text.

In order to avoid being scammed out of money or other unpleasant and costly surprises from fraudulent applicants, make sure you check all IDs early in the recruitment process, before hiring anyone!

You can also outsource this process to a dedicated service such as Evalid. This will guarantee that the documents are real before you make any decisions about whether or not to hire this candidate.

What Evalid does is verify the applicant’s identity for you, and then send you a confirmation i.e. pass or fail, with the relevant identity information. You will also see if there are any risks detected, such as when the person is on an international watchlist or has ever been involved in organised crime.

Make sure everything matches up!

After all of this work, does your applicant still seem legit? Great – hire them up if they tick all the correct boxes!

How do I know if my applicants are who they say they are? There are several ways you can tell if the applicant is real or fake, such as checking the name, social media profiles etc. Make sure to always ask for a government-issued ID document with relevant information on it, as early as possible in the hiring process. Make sure that documents have a hologram and/or laser engraving of the state seal or other identifying marks so you know whether it is real or fake.

Many high-volume recruiters use an external ID verification service which helps them weed out all the fake applications before wasting too much time on interviews with unqualified individuals.

If you have any questions about how to verify your applicant’s identity, give us a call or contact us through the website’s contact form. We would love to help out!