Awarding Bodies, do you think your reputation is safe? Just imagine…

Awarding Bodies, do you think your reputation is safe? Just imagine…

You are a respected Awarding Body, well known for the quality of your qualifications.

Now imagine an organisation, let’s say their HR Manager interviews a new candidate who presents a fake certificate with your name on it.

Impressed by the candidate’s credentials, the HR Manager, who does not tend to check qualifications, gives them a job. A few weeks or maybe months in, it becomes apparent that the new recruit is completely incompetent and cannot carry out the tasks they were supposedly trained to do.

The HR Manager who has to let the employee go and incurs the cost of a new recruitment process now thinks that the new recruit must have received very poor training. They decide to never recruit anyone who’s had training from you.

A week later, the HR Manager attends a convention and relates the story to a group of HR Managers over lunch. They now question the quality of the training you provide.

The damage to your reputation has started and it can snowball very quickly. Imagine now that our HR Manager shares their experience on Social Media…

…All of this because of a fraudster who used a fake certificate…

Degree and certificate fraud – It is happening daily and costing thousands of pounds!

Research from the Academic Director of the Think Education Group, Dr George Brown, has revealed that close to 30% of senior executives worldwide have presented qualifications they did not hold.

The fake-certificate market is believed to be a billion-dollar industry. It is estimated that 200,000 fake certificates a year are produced by hundreds of internet sites around the globe.

According to a recent survey by Axelos Global, 48% of HR professionals do not always check employees’ qualifications whilst 40% have spent more than £10,000 recruiting new staff after employing individuals who did not hold proper qualifications. 8% spent more than £40,000.

Outside of the recruitment costs, HR Managers are also worried about the poor performance from under qualified staff (53%) and the impact on their reputation (26%).

It does not have to be like this!

If you are an awarding body…

1. Protect your brand and your reputation with a secure certificate

By using professionally printed secure certificates that are difficult to replicate, you protect yourselves against counterfeiting. Counterfeiters are lazy and want quick money, if your certificates are hard to replicate, they will move on and target another organisation.

2. Offer a secure web verification system

By offering a fast and secure online verification service, employers can have instant access to claimed awards and grades, view all certificates and verify in an instant the recruit’s credentials.

If you are a recruiter (agency or HR Manager), make a point of always verifying qualifications and references and if you do come across a fake certificate, notify the awarding organisation (whether it is a university or a private training organisation) so they can re-assess the security of their certificates.

Hague Print specialises in Brand Protection and security print and provides secure certificates and web verification services to 200 universities and awarding bodies across the globe. We can help you protect your reputation, contact us for advice.

Want to know more about Degree fraud? download our free ebook now.