HR teams and recruiters face a growing onslaught of identity fraud thanks to sophisticated AI tools. How can they ensure they’re covering all bases when it comes to checking candidates are who they say they are? Peter Cleverton explains.
According to the UK’s largest not-for profit fraud prevention service, Cifas, identity fraud costs the UK an estimated £1.8bn every year and there were more than 237,000 cases of identity fraud reported in 2023.
And it’s not getting any better. A recent blog from Cifas on the outlook for 2025 reported that there are “early indications of increased fraud levels”.
The importance of effective identity verification has never been more critical and, given the boom in increasingly sophisticated generative AI tools being utilised to dupe potential employers, HR is often having to shoulder a growing load.
There’s a lot that goes on in the time between advertising a position and the successful candidate’s first day. But all those intermediary steps are important to determine two things.
Background checks
First, does your candidate have the skills and experience needed for the role and meet any must-have criteria and will they fit in with the company and/or team culture?
While some of the information needed to answer these important questions can be found on a CV and covering letter or gathered during interviews, there is one vital assumption that needs to be verified before a job offer is made: that the person being interviewed is actually the same individual whose credentials you have been scrutinising.
AI and recruitment
Confirming that a candidate is who they claim to be is arguably the most important background check that employers can conduct on their new hires.
In the case of identity theft, if the ID being verified does not belong to your candidate, this could result in you hiring a person unsuitable for the job, which could ultimately impact your workforce productivity, damage your brand reputation, or even have legal ramifications for your company.
However employers verify candidate IDs, there are two main elements to consider: firstly, if the ID they have provided is a genuine, valid form of ID and, secondly, if the ID belongs to your candidate.
For companies opting to verify candidate IDs in-house, here are some key considerations:
Familiarity with different forms of international ID: There is a wide variety of different international identity documents beyond the likely familiar UK passport and driving licence.
For example, many countries have their own form of government-issued ID and, for businesses hiring international talent, it is a big ask that anybody tasked with inspecting candidate IDs is familiar with all legitimate global forms of ID and that they are confident they can spot if something looks wrong.
Recognising the signs: The growth of generative AI has made it easier for individuals to create synthetic identities and realistically forged documents via widely available technology, and even fool biometric authentication systems.
Even if the person checking the ID is familiar with the type of document your candidate has provided, signs of identity fraud can be subtle and very difficult to detect by an untrained eye.
Additionally, there are certain checks which can help detect ID fraud, such as cross-checking an ID with fraud databases or the validation of a document’s Machine-Readable Zone (MRZ), which are not replicable with a manual, in-person ID check.
How to check ID remotely: If you are hiring remotely – either individuals located in other countries or just not within a commutable distance of your office – how do you verify a candidate’s ID? One option is requesting that they send you their physical ID (via a tracked delivery service for security) for validation.
Signs of identity fraud can be subtle and very difficult to detect by an untrained eye.”
However, candidates who are who they claim to be may have concerns about their ID being lost or stolen – especially if the employer is overseas – so this process may actually scare off genuine candidates.
Alternatively, you could ask candidates to send you a photograph or scan of their ID via email. However, digital images can be easier to manipulate than the physical ID itself. For example, digitally replacing the photo of the original owner on a stolen ID with a photo of themselves, so this is not without risk.
Confirming the ID belongs to the candidate: Once you have your candidate’s ID, or a digital copy of it, it is important to check that the ID is theirs.
However, if you are checking a candidate’s identity remotely, for example over a video call, tech-savvy candidates could be using tools such as generative AI, a mask, or a screen image to make themselves appear as if they are the person whose ID they provided.
This sort of deception may sound like something out of a movie, but these sorts of presentation attacks do happen and can be very difficult to detect without a digital, real-time “liveness” check in place.
Keeping on task
Odds are you didn’t hire your HR team based on their encyclopaedic knowledge of international identity documents.
It’s far more likely that verifying candidates’ IDs is a task most would gladly relinquish to have more time to focus on their other responsibilities that they already don’t have enough time for.
Conducting in-house identity verification checks can be time-consuming and potentially stressful for whomever is shouldering the responsibility. After all, nobody wants to get it wrong.
Third-party digital ID verification services can offer comprehensive global coverage and rapid validation of multiple forms of ID providing a better experience for both businesses and their candidates.
For candidates, the ID verification process is quick, can be conducted anywhere via a mobile device, and their ID never leaves their possession.
For employers, they get the peace of mind that a specialist provider has the latest tools and technology to better protect their business from sophisticated identity fraud, giving them greater confidence in their hiring decisions.
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