Human Risk Quick Tips: Employment Fraud Indicators

Identifying the risks of employment fraud is crucial to maintaining the integrity of your organization and ensuring its long-term success. Fraudulent applicants or employees can undermine security protocols, manipulate systems for personal gain, or cause operational disruptions that affect productivity and employee morale. By detecting and addressing employment fraud early, you can prevent costly legal battles, safeguard sensitive information, and maintain a secure, efficient work environment.

The following examples illustrate key signs of possible employment fraud at various stages of the hiring and onboarding processes. This is not a comprehensive list, but highlights how to spot common approaches that fraudulent candidates or existing employees use to mask their true identity or inflate their credentials.

• Suspicious email addresses
  • Applicants using email addresses that follow a pattern associated with previous bad actors or known email schemes. For instance, using generic email providers like Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail with job-specific naming conventions (e.g., firstname.lastname.work@gmail.com).
• Shipping address inconsistency
  • The applicant’s shipping address for company-issued equipment (e.g. laptops) has recently been changed or does not match the one provided on their I-9 form. This discrepancy could indicate the use of a false identity or an attempt to divert company property.
• Reference verification
  • If the same references are used across multiple candidates, or if it’s suspected that an employee is acting as their own reference (often with temporary VoIP numbers), this could be a red flag. Also, references who are unwilling to appear on camera during virtual interviews or offer vague answers about their relationship with the applicant should be scrutinized.
• Avoidance of virtual meetings
  • Remote employees who consistently avoid turning on their cameras during virtual meetings, whether in the interview process or daily work, may be hiding their true identity or intentions.
• Inconsistent job performance
  • If an employee’s performance doesn’t align with the skills they demonstrated during the hiring process, this could indicate that they exaggerated their abilities, provided false credentials, or are working multiple jobs or outsourcing their role to another individual.
• New or limited online presence
  • An applicant with a newly created LinkedIn account or a minimal online presence may be trying to hide or misrepresent themself. If the majority of their online activity appears to be related solely to employment, this could be a sign of an artificial or incomplete online persona.
• Reused or doctored photos
  • Re-used, stock, or altered profile pictures across various social media accounts or resumes may indicate an effort to disguise a candidate’s identity.
• Unauthorized remote access software
  • Employees using remote access tools on their work devices without prior approval can pose a security risk, as they may be attempting to access sensitive systems or data remotely.

Nisos’ Employment Shield helps you identify, investigate, and prevent employment fraud. By assessing hiring risks, conducting in-depth investigations on high-risk individuals, and continuously monitoring for fraudulent activity, Employment Shield offers a comprehensive defense against threats. By using advanced technology combined with human intelligence, our solution uncovers fraud before it impacts your business, from verifying identities and screening criminal histories to investigating associations and potentially damaging activities. We help mitigate financial losses, reduce legal liabilities, and protect operational integrity, empowering your organization to make safer, more informed hiring and employee management decisions.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Employment Fraud

1. What is employment fraud, and why is it a risk to businesses?
Employment fraud occurs when job applicants or employees misrepresent themselves, falsify credentials, or engage in deceptive practices. This can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data, financial losses, legal liabilities, and operational disruptions.

2. How can employers detect employment fraud during the hiring process?
Employers can spot employment fraud by identifying suspicious email addresses, inconsistencies in job history, fake references, reluctance to participate in video interviews, and mismatched shipping addresses for company-issued equipment. Learn more in our Human Risk Buyer’s Guide for Employment Fraud.

3. What are the consequences of hiring a fraudulent employee?
Hiring a fraudulent employee can result in security breaches, loss of confidential data, decreased productivity, reputational damage, and increased legal and compliance risks for the organization.

4. How can organizations reduce their risk of employment fraud?
Organizations can mitigate employment fraud by implementing advanced screening processes, conducting deep social media and background checks, requiring robust identity verification during onboarding, and fostering collaboration between HR, security, and legal teams. Learn more in our Human Risk Buyer’s Guide for Employment Fraud.

5. How does Nisos’ Employment Shield help prevent employment fraud?
Nisos’ Employment Shield helps organizations identify, investigate, and prevent employment fraud
with in-depth risk assessments, monitoring, and investigations. By combining advanced technology with human intelligence, it helps detect and prevent employment fraud before it impacts business operations.

About Nisos®

Nisos is the Managed Intelligence Company. We are a trusted digital investigations partner, specializing in unmasking threats to protect people, organizations, and their digital ecosystems in the commercial and public sectors. Our open source intelligence services help security, intelligence, legal, and trust and safety teams make critical decisions, impose real world consequences, and increase adversary costs. For more information, visit: https://nisos.com.