Professional Candidate Screening by a Detective Agency

Almost every applicant has at some point “enhanced” their CV for job applications, though not always to the same extent and certainly not always with criminal intent: a few crumbs of school French become “fluent in French” for a multinational company, an unpaid internship at a law firm is presented as several months of employment as a lawyer, and beach holidays on the Costa Brava are described as “multi-week language courses”. While these embellishments usually result in little more than minor disappointments for the employer—if they are noticed at all—our experience at Kurtz Commercial Detective Agency Munich shows that there are also far more unscrupulous applicants. They may purchase academic degrees, submit friends’ certificates as their own, or, in extreme cases, falsify their entire identity to erase inconvenient facts from their CV or criminal record and invent a brilliant past instead.

According to a 2005 American study examining over 3 million applications, one in ten applications contained false statements and/or outright forgeries, far beyond minor enhancements. This is reflected in the fact that around 10 percent of German companies report having fallen victim to at least one fraudulent applicant in the past. And this only accounts for those companies that detected and proved the fraud; the actual number is likely much higher, as many fraudulent applicants work for years in positions for which they are unqualified—until a single clumsy mistake eventually has potentially serious consequences for the employer. Our detective agency in Munich checks both the applications of current candidates proactively and retrospectively investigates the claimed CVs of employees whose lack of skills or experience raises suspicions in the workplace: +49 89 7007 4301.

Doctors without degrees, teachers without experience, lawyers without licences, politicians with purchased doctorates

Fraudulent misrepresentations can severely impact a company; imagine, for instance, a doctor who has been working in a private clinic for years but has never actually studied medicine, putting lives at risk daily. Responsibility falls not only on the unqualified doctor but also on the clinic management, which failed to adequately verify the application and qualifications, recklessly endangering human lives. Naturally, such dramatic cases are rare, though their severity often draws media attention.

Most cases of application fraud, however, occur on a smaller scale, in less critical situations and with less public visibility. Our private detectives in Munich are often hired by companies to trace unexplained financial losses, errors, or workflow problems back to potentially falsified CVs, or to conduct a candidate check before hiring to prevent unpleasant surprises.

Increasing Incidents of Application Fraud – High Pressure and Competition

The number of purchased and falsified applications is rising due to increasingly professional competitors, labour market shortages, and sometimes nearly impossible requirements—such as an unusually fast degree, at least two years of work experience, and three foreign languages by the age of 22 (fortunately an extreme example)—creating the “resume of a genius or a machine,” but certainly not of a normal human being. It is understandable that every applicant wants to present themselves as positively and perfectly as possible to secure an interview. Yet the concern for HR ends when work references are self-written and submitted with a scanned signature of a previous employer, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degrees are purchased, or other false claims are made. From an outsider’s perspective, one may wonder how applicants handle the pressure they face daily—after all, the employer may contest the contract even after hiring, terminate the employee, and even sue for damages if it is later proven—often with evidence provided by our Munich detectives—that, for example, a master’s degree was forged and the applicant never completed their studies.

Even HR professionals with strong intuition are often deceived by charismatic and seemingly impeccable applicants, which is why polygraph tests are occasionally used during interviews, and numerous business seminars on lie detection following Paul Ekman are offered (popularised by the US TV series Lie to Me starring Tim Roth). The primary principle for HR remains direct assessment through personal interviews. “Backup checks” carried out without the candidate’s knowledge are generally only permissible in exceptional cases where a justified suspicion exists, such as undisclosed criminal convictions. There is, however, a simple legal way to circumvent these restrictions—this method and when our private detectives in Munich may be engaged are outlined in the next section.

The Higher the Position, the Greater the Risk from Falsified Applications

High-ranking posts in companies are particularly risky: the damage a poorly qualified candidate can cause is unpredictable and may severely harm the company. That is why it is important to thoroughly check applications from the outset and to follow up any inconsistencies in the interview. If individual candidates appear suitable but you still harbour doubts about their curriculum vitae or application, you are welcome to commission our detective team in Munich to research previous employments, verify the authenticity of references and certificates, check for purchased or fabricated titles, ascertain criminal records and even investigate false identities.

As legal protection, we recommend every company obtain a written consent from applicants in advance for a backup check. This consent is useful even if the candidate refuses, since that refusal may indicate something to hide and the person should then be excluded from the application process.

Another Danger: Corporate Spies

Often, fraudsters are merely trying to secure a lucrative job without the required references or qualifications. However, it is also possible that industrial spies gain access to a company through falsified applications or identities to sell internal data or innovations to the highest bidder or their direct client (usually a domestic or foreign competitor). Companies must therefore be absolutely certain about the nature of any potential employee, and even the seemingly perfect application should be carefully scrutinised, with any inconsistencies taken seriously.

According to the well-known “lie detector” and specialist in uncovering fraudulent applicants, Marco Löw, most HR personnel spend only 2–5 minutes reviewing an applicant; obviously, no details can be thoroughly analysed or questionable claims questioned in such a short period.

Kurtz Commercial Investigations Munich Is Ready If Suspicions Arise

If you suspect that an applicant or one of your employees has not only embellished details in their application but also falsified documents, concealed key facts, or otherwise engaged in application fraud, contact the IHK-certified commercial detectives and private investigators of Kurtz Detective Agency Munich to be advised on the next steps. All inquiries are handled discreetly and confidentially: +49 89 7007 4301 or kontakt@kurtz-detektei-muenchen.de.