Personnel Checks join SAFERjobs to safeguard against fraudulent DBS checks

SAFERjobs is a non-profit organisation created by the Metropolitan Police to raise awareness and combat criminal activities that may be attempted on those seeking a job.

Government ministers say up to 10% of job seekers have fallen victim to a scam, losing up to £500 for non-existent checks or being tricked into calling premium rate phone lines for interviews.

Keith Rosser, chairman of SAFERjobs, said: "Recruitment fraud is varied and affects people in different ways.

"It can be a fake job offer advising that the individual needs to pay for security checks, online training, visas or insurance, or a work-from-home scam conning people into money laundering.

"Unfortunately, job scams are on the rise and in the last two years we have witnessed a 300% rise in recruitment related fraud and misconduct."

SAFERjobs have partnered with the Government to help prevent a rise in fraudulent background checks, which is the most common type of recruitment fraud, and other recruitment scams.

Director of Safeguarding at the Disclosure and Barring Service, Sue Smith, commented:

“This sort of scam can be really distressing to those involved and we are keen to do all we can to prevent it. We have been working closely with SAFERjobs to raise awareness of this issue and would urge registered bodies to do the same.”

As a Registered body for the DBS, we feel passionately about people being forced to pay money without receiving safeguarding services in return.

Safeguarding our society by providing DBS checks is a key activity for many organisations and we must ensure that organisations and individuals are still taking safeguarding procedures seriously.

We are proud to promote job scam awareness and you will now see the SAFERjobs logo on the Personnel Checks website, reminding every one of the dangers of recruitment scams and to stay aware.

SAFERjobs tips for job seekers include:

Never pay money up front
Do not give out personal details that are not relevant to an application process - such as bank account details, a National Insurance number, date of birth, driving licence or utility bill information
Do not do everything online - at some point a job discussion should lead to a phone or face-to-face interview
Do research about the company the job is with - check landline telephone numbers to confirm the job is real, and use social media and other sources to find out more about the firm

If you suspect fraudulent activity within recruitment and vetting you can report the incident on the SAFERjobs website.

Head over to the PC blog to see 5 ways to spot fraudulent requests for DBS checks.

Personnel Checks join SAFERjobs to safeguard against fraudulent DBS checks

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