This report, for the first time, establishes a baseline figure for the cost of recruitment fraud. It also shows, where it is allowed to occur as a result of no or inadequate pre-employment checks, it often leads to further fraud and theft. Fraudsters, encouraged by successfully

gaining employment through dishonesty are often motivated to attempt wider fraud within their host organisations. However, the deterrent to individuals from carrying out recruitment fraud is not complex or difficult for businesses to adopt. Effective pre-employment checks are relatively low cost and easy to commission. With fraud growing by almost 50% in the last 10 years, the real question is not why would we do this, but why wouldn’t we?

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