Why Your Industry Should Conduct Primary Source Verification

“56% of employers have detected employees with bogus credentials and embellished resumes.” <a href="https://www.careerbuilder.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CareerBuilder</a>, 2015 This is no laughing matter though as some people may or may not be aware of Hollywood shown its bright light on a rather unique exposé of document falsification and impersonation in the film entitled “Catch Me If You Can” (2002). The movie depicts the real-life exploits of Frank Abagnale Jr., a man who made a “career” out of confidence manipulation, deceiving people in multiple industries while creating an imposter profile – falsifying documents and credentials – passing himself off as a legitimate employee of whatever corporation suited his needs at the time. His real-life exploits and true-life story shine a light on just <a href="https://businessblog.trueprofile.io/the-importance-of-employee-verification-in-the-healthcare-industry/">how important due diligence screening and verification is</a>. And even though this film came out in 2002, fraudulent documentation generation technology and methodologies have only become better since then. Organizations of all sizes need to verify who is working for them. Conducting primary source verification (PSV) – verifying documents at the source – for all applicants prior to hiring them to represent your organization is a way to safeguard against a litany of embarrassing and life-threatening scrutiny, litigation, or worse. To protect against employee fraud and malpractice, PSV is the perfect solution to protect against and manage risk. PSV indicated and verifies content from the original source of the specific credential such as educational, training, or licensure to determine the accuracy and exactitude of the candidate’s qualifications. <h2>Healthcare and Regulatory Facilities</h2> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="568" src="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/Healthcare-and-Regulatory-Facilities-1024x568.jpg" alt="Primary Source Verification" class="wp-image-9895" title="Primary Source Verification" srcset="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/Healthcare-and-Regulatory-Facilities-1024x568.jpg 1024w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/Healthcare-and-Regulatory-Facilities-300x167.jpg 300w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/Healthcare-and-Regulatory-Facilities-768x426.jpg 768w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/Healthcare-and-Regulatory-Facilities.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure> Trusting in physician and other healthcare providers is not only essential but it should go without questions since these professionals are quite literally dealing with situations of life and death. In healthcare, where ethics, skills, and experience represent a higher degree of competency and consequence – the implications have the potential to cause greater harm to individuals and to society at large than within other vocations. Unqualified healthcare professionals are putting people’s lives risk.  Malpractice can lead to lawsuits and loss of credibility for employers, regulators, and governments. Document fraud affects all countries and the associated costs are immeasurable. Health care professionals are in short supply in many countries, both in rural and urban settings that require a specific combination of personality, skills, and competencies. Organizations are forced to expand their recruitment efforts leaving them susceptible fraudulent activities. Fraud in healthcare may be more prevalent due to the size, length of time and complexity of the educational and training systems, variation of credentialing institutions, and technological sophistication available to determined fraudsters claiming to have acquired comprehensive training in an institution unrecognized by prospective employers and health care organizations. These impostors can very easily pay for fabricated documentation to support their claims and credentials. Primary Source Verification, the process of verifying records from the provider source, not only protects your healthcare organization from legal and human rights violations but more importantly, it safeguards your patients. <h2>Aeronautics</h2> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="535" src="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/Aeronautics-1024x535.jpg" alt="Primary Source Verification" class="wp-image-9897" title="Primary Source Verification" srcset="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/Aeronautics-1024x535.jpg 1024w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/Aeronautics-300x157.jpg 300w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/Aeronautics-768x401.jpg 768w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/Aeronautics.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure> For very obvious reasons the human resource function within the aviation industry has to perform thorough vetting and screening of all associated employees. Take into account that the aviation industry is the sole business in which its employees interact directly with foreign countries and destinations on a minute-by-minute basis. For this reason, not to mention the people safety and protection aspect of aviation it is crucial that all aviation personnel undergo a thorough vetting and screening process. Aviation employees both directly as well as indirectly take the life of their customers as well as other airlines into their own hands in the operation, maintenance, security, and communications between and with ground control aircraft. “The security criteria defined by the 1990 Aviation and Maritime Security Act states that individuals who wish to work unescorted in restricted areas at an airport must be screened to a specific standard.” Sterling Talent Solutions “According to a US-based background check company, there is a 21% criminal hit rate among all airline personnel that have been screened.” EmployeescreenIQ, 2013 Avoid hiring pilots with false licenses; militating against the risk of human error. Trusting in your pilot, crew, and other aviation personnel’s skills, ability, and experience helps to ensure top safety levels for both passengers and airlines. <h2>Higher Education</h2> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="535" src="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/Higher-Education-1024x535.jpg" alt="Primary Source Verification" class="wp-image-9899" title="Primary Source Verification" srcset="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/Higher-Education-1024x535.jpg 1024w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/Higher-Education-300x157.jpg 300w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/Higher-Education-768x401.jpg 768w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/Higher-Education.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure> “The rate of global document forgery according to DataFlow Group statistics stands at 3.35% as of October 2017 – Imagine how many local and international students and education professionals hold fake credentials!” – DataFlow Group Stats The education industry is a vital component in and of fraudulent documentation. Educational institutions have to both do their due diligence in screening fraudulent applicants out of their institutions who attempt to leverage credentials they don’t actually possess. On the other hand, many of these same institutions have to attest against the credibility of documentation that illustrates their name or likeness. This industry is interesting in that it feeds the illicit “diploma mill” industry which boasts more than 1,000 known operations as of 2011 (University World News, 2016). The human resource function in education must act to safeguard and protect the academic community, uphold institutional reputation, and enhance organizational productivity. And reduce admissions and recruitment time by identifying fraudulent academic credentials during the recruitment process. USD 500 million is the estimated amount spent on fake diplomas each year ‘Accredited Online Colleges’. <h2 id="E360">Banking and Finance</h2> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="535" src="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/Banking-and-Finance-1024x535.jpg" alt="Primary Source Verification" class="wp-image-9901" title="Primary Source Verification" srcset="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/Banking-and-Finance-1024x535.jpg 1024w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/Banking-and-Finance-300x157.jpg 300w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/Banking-and-Finance-768x401.jpg 768w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/Banking-and-Finance.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure> Currency is the lifeblood of every society. Financial and banking clients put their hard-earned money into financial institutions that they believe are trustworthy, employing educated and experienced individuals trained to handle their money professionally. Though this industry is very insular in safeguarding itself against deceitful applicants by hiring from within the industry, it still must maintain a solid adherence to thorough screening and vetting process, especially when entertaining high-level external applicants. <h2 id="E368">High Tech</h2> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="535" src="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/High-Tech-1024x535.jpg" alt="Primary Source Verification" class="wp-image-9903" title="Primary Source Verification" srcset="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/High-Tech-1024x535.jpg 1024w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/High-Tech-300x157.jpg 300w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/High-Tech-768x401.jpg 768w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/High-Tech.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure> The tech industry has historically been plagued by well-organized groups of competent, computer savvy, remote organizations trained to fashion fraudulent career documents, certifications, and degrees that come across as being very good facsimiles. Impostors within the tech space may have very useful and valuable skills but don’t possess the desired credentials. Getting past human resource gatekeepers can be simply a challenge or a joke.