Fraud mars hiring process

Mumbai: The incidence of multiple frauds in the form of discrepancies in fake employment letters and fake degrees in applications for jobs in IT, BPOs, hospitality, manufacturing and retail sectors has been on the rise. This is particularly so in fake experience letters provided to desperate job seekers by the unrecognised mom and pop companies and education space allegedly imparting training for various jobs.

There are about 6,000-7,000 such companies said Navin Chugh, senior vice-president and managing director, First Advantage, a US based company that specialises in background screening and verification.

Overall one to three out of five candidates in the financial, BPO and IT sectors comes with fake degrees, or fake work experience whilst in the case of hospitality, manufacturing and retail it is about 30 per cent. Within this 30 per cent the number of applicants who give fake experience letters, is around 60 per cent and has increased in the last 18 months said Mr Chugh.

A new case of fraud detected in the last six months in the form of people with criminal backgrounds applying for jobs, has reached an alarming five per cent. This is particularly in the case of delivery boys in food or merchandise outlets.

Indian companies are reluctant to spend on doing background checks so as to save as it costs Rs 2,000-3,000 per check like background screening, address etc., and this is a fraction of the cost of the employee.

On the other hand, said Mr Chugh, a ball park estimate of say the loss to the IT or BPO company could be around $200 per day per employee removed when the fraud is discovered.

In case of an IT service provider it could be as much as $400 per day if service is provided at $50 per hour, said Mr Chugh.