Job shortage leads to more CV fraud - expert

The main reason for the increase has been the spate of high-profile executives who had been found to have fake or fraudulent qualifications, said Danie Strydom, CEO of qualifications verification company QVS.

"We have consistently had about a 13% rejection rate of qualifications that were 'problematic'. This ranged from outright fake qualifications to credentials that had been tampered with," he said.

"In some cases, fictitious subjects had been added to degrees or diplomas. In other cases, symbols had been altered to show a higher aggregate."

Ample evidence

Strydom said there was ample evidence to show that job seekers are motivated to fudge their qualifications as well as their experience in order to land an employment opportunity.

"Employers are catching on. I believe the exposure of the fact that a number of senior business people and academics had been found to have lied about their qualifications has motivated more employers to verify qualifications rather than just taking the tendered degree or diploma at face value," said Strydom.

"The growing incidence of CV fraud can, at least in part, be ascribed to the shortage of good jobs. But it is also used by white-collar criminals to misrepresent their qualifications."

Online persona

Many employers and recruiters run searches on job candidates to learn more about their history and personality.

While an applicant's online persona may not be career-related, some may come across information that does not match up to what was listed on a CV.

In some cases, lies on a CV may go unnoticed and actually allow the candidate to get the job.

"However, if the employee lied about having certain qualifications, he or she may face obstacles when having to produce required work," he said.

"Not only can this result in stress on the employer, but it could also put the company at risk, depending on the nature of the position."

According to PwC's biennial Global Economic Crime Survey South African companies reported the second-highest incidence of fraud, namely 60%.