FSB Warns Businesses to Check Candidates' References

5th May 2014

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is contacting its members to warn them about the scale of reference fraud directed at small businesses. The FSB and BBC1's Fake Britain cooperated on a survey of 1,800 small firms, which found nearly one in five (17%) had discovered candidates with fraudulent references. The survey found that bogus references are used at every level of business: 40 per cent of dodgy references were for entry level positions; 40 per cent were for mid-level positions; 12 per cent were for management positions; 2 per cent of fraudulent applications were for Director level jobs.

The programme will also report that seven out of 10 (71%) of small business owners are unaware of websites which offer to provide applicants with fake references. The FSB is encouraging businesses to be wary of potential fraud and take precautions to prevent being taken in by a scam.

Mike Cherry, National Policy Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses, said:"To see the scale of fraudulent referencing taking place is shocking, as getting the wrong candidate can have a catastrophic impact on smaller companies. With nearly one in five of our members having received applications with bogus references, it is clear that small businesses must be on their guard about this kind of fraud and take steps to check the employment history of candidates."