Fraud has quickly become a widespread issue that affects many industries across Canada and globally. During Fraud Prevention Month, it’s essential to shed a light on just how important pre-employment screening can be for your company. Many companies have now gone beyond just a criminal background check in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of a candidate’s qualifications, integrity and potential risks they may bring to an organization.. We explore some real-life examples of fraud in three key industries and discuss how background screening can help mitigate these risks.

Healthcare: Protecting Patients and Institutions

Healthcare fraud can have devastating consequences, not only for the integrity of medical institutions but for the safety of their patients. One notable example involves a Canadian nurse who used stolen and forged documents, who despite lacking the necessary qualifications, managed to secure employment across the country, putting countless patients at risk. She was later charged with crimes such as impersonation, theft, assault and more.

How Pre-Employment Screening could help:

  • Criminal Background Check: any prior legal flags could have come up and indicated this individual could be a risk to patients.
  • Employment Verification: this can check for any discrepancies or red flags in their past roles.
  • Education Verification: ensure that all licenses, certifications, degrees, etc. are all valid.

Auto Sector and Insurance: Who hit who?

A viral video recently showcased a driver deliberately backing into another vehicle to stage an accident. Incidents like these not only lead to higher premiums for honest policyholders, but also put strain on insurance companies, who should be spending time dealing with legitimate claims.

How Pre-Employment Screening could help:

  • Criminal Background Check: help to detect individuals with histories of insurance fraud or other similar crimes that could be a red flag.
  • Employment verification: this will help verify the reputation of potential employees and show trustworthiness.
  • Social Media Screening: screening employees to see insight into their online behaviour. This might include flags of them supporting negative behaviour.

Banking and Financial Services

Fraud in this industry often involves significant monetary losses. Mortgage application fraud has become a growing concern where applicants or even employees falsify documents to secure loans or manipulate financial processes. There has been a rise of almost 10% in mortgage application fraud rates, most often involving the provision of false information.

How Pre-Employment Screening could help:

  • Credit Check: any red flags regarding financial irresponsibility or fraudulent behaviour could be flagged here.
  • Employment Verification: by confirming that candidates have worked in previous sensitive roles, this can show they possess the integrity needed.
  • Social Media Screening: sometimes a person’s online footprint can show a lot about their true colours. Catching any questionable behaviours online may impact the trustworthiness of a potential hire.

Fraud prevention starts by being proactive. Ensuring you have a hiring process you believe in, can help eliminate the need for reactive measures down the line. Pre-Employment screening is a tool in you hiring toolbox to ensure organizations hire candidates with the right qualifications, integrity, and positive track records.

If you are interested in how your organization can better improve their hiring practices, reach out today to find out how Triton can help. Contact us at success@tritonverify.com or visit https://www.tritoncanada.ca/background-checks-in-canada.