What is the hidden risk of worker qualification fraud?

‘So, who's faking it?’

This is a question we should all be asking ourselves, especially in 2022. 

Although we live in a digitised era, old systematic loopholes continue to debilitate the Australian workforce. One recurring area of concern is appropriate and valid worker documentation. In fact, fraud is surprisingly prevalent in today's highly regulated workforce, and the responsibility to detect and prevent it now falls on the employer.

In Western Australia, the regulation stipulates that persons conducting businesses or undertakings (PCBUs) have an obligation to carefully assess the validity of documentation, training, competency and the qualifications that are submitted by candidates applying for any job. This new PCBU legislation means that it is no longer an option to operate ‘at arm’s length’.

Not knowing a worker has provided a fake certification is not a sufficient defence strategy if you are prosecuted.

Is fraud on your radar as a critical risk factor?

With ever-increasing health and safety regulations, companies are moving beyond simply trusting that contract workers are trained and competent. However, without systematically reviewing all qualifications and licences, your organisation and personnel are likely to be exposed to unnecessary risk.

Fraudulent activity negatively impacts the reputation of many organisations, and activity typically goes undetected for 1-2 years. Can you confidently say that your organisation has flagged the hidden risk of worker qualification fraud in your contingency strategy?

Unpacking fraudulent worker documentation

When onboarding new employees or contractors, we have to consider the current processes and systems that we undertake to verify someone. As a starting point, fraudulent worker documents are most common in the following forms:

• Using another person’s identity 
• Altering an existing qualification using stickers, scanners or digital software 
• Homemade counterfeit certifications using digital software
• Fraudulent high-quality counterfeits bought online 
• Scams using the above methods to move fake qualifications to other states to get real qualifications issued

MyPass Global can assist in identifying hidden risks

It is important to check certifications to ensure that all personnel have undertaken appropriate training for the needs of a project or company. At MyPass, we encourage formalising this process now to ensure instances of fraud are not uncovered too late.

MyPass is uniquely positioned to help as our in-house verification service verifies worker certifications at the primary source. Through real-time compliance statistics, employers are empowered with the data to screen workers to mitigate exposure from fraudulent activities. 

MyPass also alerts workers, via the MyPass platform, if any of their qualifications or certifications are near expiry. This feature is accessible not only to workers, but employers too.

This graph shows the upturn in fraudulent certificates detected by MyPass' verification team. Undeniably, it's on the up...

Feel assured about your workforce by speaking to MyPass

Visibility of both internal and external workforce skills and competencies is essential for risk reduction and increased safety.

MyPass can help your organisation mitigate exposure to fraudulent certificates through real-time data transparency and accountability.