Have you hired a fraudster?

Muscat: There has been a spike in the number of companies in Oman asking the education ministry to check the qualifications of their employees.
A Ministry of Higher Education clampdown campaign on fake certificates has resulted in a 132 per cent rise in the number of requests for help in weeding out bogus employees.
The ministry wants to stop applicants who dupe their way into getting jobs by using fake certificates, denying more deserving job seekers the chance to work.
The Ministry of Higher Education told Times of Oman that there was an increase of 4,092 applications between 2015 and 2018, leading to a 132.7 per cent increase in 2018 as compared to 2015.
Certificates
There were 7,175 applications put in by companies in 2018 to check whether certificates were genuine, as compared to 3,083 in 2015. That number is expected to cross 22,000 applications by the end of 2019, with the ministry saying they have already received 7,744 applications for certification from January 1 to May 1, 2019. In 2018, the Ministry uncovered 20 cases of people who had fake certificates. In total, more than 1000 fake qualifications have been exposed by the Ministry.
A ministry spokesman said: “The increase in applications reflects the response of government and private employment agencies and their commitment to oblige their employees who hold academic qualifications issued from outside Oman to submit a request for certification and equivalence through the electronic system of the Ministry of Higher Education.
“In case of the discovery of a fake certificate, the ministry will address the public prosecution and address the Ministry of Civil Service, the Ministry of Manpower and the Manpower Registry, and then notify the employer of the certificate holder.”
Ramanuj Venkatesh, an audit investigations specialist in the country, said that an employee loses all credibility after using bogus qualifications to deceive companies.
“When you lie during an interview, you will be found out sooner or later, and then, your credibility will be gone forever,” he said.
“The market is such that information like this will travel very quickly.”
“Any company that hires you in the future will ask your previous one for references, and they will not hesitate to speak the truth, so you will find it very hard to get a job. What will you do then? If you do such things and are working in the Middle East, you will definitely face penalties if found out.
“This kind of fraud carries with it the intention to harm the other person, for your own benefit,” added Venkatesh.
“In this case, you are using these fake degrees for your own selfish needs, and are taking resources from the company that should go to candidates who deserve this job. Getting a job requires the right qualifications.”
A senior manager for an insurance company said they were working with the Ministry of Higher Education to verify their employee qualifications.
“We are working closely with the ministry to verify the qualifications of all of our new hires, as and when they come on board,” he said.
“This is a practice we have been following for a while, and I think it is extremely important today, to ensure we hire the correct people.”