Clinical Researcher—August 2024 (Volume 38, Issue 4)

ON THE JOB

Angela Roberts

It can be difficult to find qualified and motivated candidates for clinical research job openings who are following all the rules. So, when competition gets so cutthroat that an entire shadow network of fake references springs up to help foist illegitimate new hires on short-staffed or over-eager employers via trickery, caution should be the hiring manager’s byword.

When the topic of how to identify fake job applicants comes up, I am constantly asked, “But why not just call and verify past employment?” That seems like a reasonable question. By all means, you should do background checks—but such checks and employment verifications aren’t always going to protect you from candidates whose resumes are littered with details of fabricated positions and achievements.

Yes, There are Fake Companies

Never assume the companies listed on candidates’ resumes are real businesses. “Fake companies” can have folks who will answer the phone and “verify” employment. We first noticed this trend in 2010, when clinical research associate (CRA) candidates from certain would-be previous employers consistently failed our competency assessments. As we dug deeper, we realized the companies didn’t exist, and that the candidates were fake job applicants who were using these bogus companies to represent monitoring experience they didn’t really have.

To date, we have identified 47 of these phony companies, with an additional 119 classified as highly suspicious. The trend of candidates using fake companies on their resumes is one of the most elusive and alarming trends we have seen. These shell companies have websites and often the individuals who set up these counterfeit companies trick Google into assigning locations to them. Business Insider first reported on this issue in 2015, not only confirming what we were already seeing in our industry, but also blowing the whistle on an organization that admits to creating hundreds of phony companies.

Don’t underestimate how committed these fraudsters are; not only do they have staff members who answer phones to “verify” employment, but for an additional fee, they will provide positive references from “past supervisors.”

However, even if a suspicious-seeming company turns out to be real, hiring organizations should be diligent with background checks and reference checks, which should always be verbal. I am finding more and more companies fail to conduct thorough reference and background checks, when these should go well beyond looking just for criminal history and employment verification. Often, the operations managers waiting for new hires don’t know these important steps are being skipped or sidestepped, perhaps because there’s a cap on what the organization will spend on such efforts (more about this below). This can result in a bad hire even though someone looked really good on paper.

How to Determine if a Company is Real

It is easier to confirm that a company is real than to prove it isn’t. Here are some specific steps you can follow to provide insight into a company’s validity.

Check State Registries

As a rule, if you have never heard of a company, you should search for its registration. If a company has legitimately been organized, it will be listed on the appropriate state’s registry. But…realize that companies do not always have to register their business where the business resides. For example, our company headquarters is in Florida, therefore our business is registered with the state of Florida and can be found on the Florida’s Division of Corporations site. But we were once registered in Georgia and would also be qualified to register in the state of Delaware.

So, while you want to start with the state where the company’s headquarters is located, you may have to broaden your search if you want to prove fraudulence.

Other Resources for Your Sleuthing

If searching the Secretary of State or Divisions of Corporation site for the state where the company resides doesn’t yield results, consider using Manta Business Directory. Manta scrapes each state’s corporation database and allows companies to register with them directly. While not as reliable as the Secretary of State listings, it can be a good source if you are unsure which state a company may be registered with.

One of my personal favorite corporation resources to use is OpenCorporates. Their database consists of filed corporations across the globe and it is extremely accurate. However, if you use this source often, you will be required to pay a membership fee. But if you hire CRAs or deal with fraudulent candidates, the fee is worth it.

What isn’t Likely to be Found

Fictitious names and trade names can be difficult to trace. For example, while you can easily find our corporate name on Florida’s corporation site, you won’t be able to find our trade name. While trade names are required to be registered, they aren’t easily searchable like corporation names are. Much like single-member LLCs, they can be difficult to track down and even more difficult to prove fraudulent.

What Happens if You Can’t Verify the Company is Real?

If you are unable to verify the legitimacy of a company through a corporation search, you can certainly research their activity online.

Start with a LinkedIn presence. While not all valid companies have LinkedIn, if the company does have a LinkedIn presence you will be able to gain insight into its validity. Start by assessing how fleshed out the company’s profile is. Then take a look at the individuals who are connected to it along with their titles, etc. You should know that anyone can build a fake LinkedIn company page and have many people connected to it, but real people will be posting as well as sharing information about company milestones. LinkedIn companies also include an Insights tab that will show a history of employees connected to it.

And if the company is a sponsor claiming to conduct trials in the U.S., you can also check out ClinicalTrials.gov. Just be aware that not all studies are required to be on this government site. You can also search for press releases and check out other resources such as Crunchbase.

We also keep a history of companies we can’t verify and, suffice it to say, trends will start to reveal themselves if you just track the history long enough.

Even if the Company is Real, be Diligent in Background and Reference Checks

I am finding more and more companies fail to conduct thorough reference and background checks. And often the operations managers don’t know these important steps are being skipped or sidestepped.

If you are an operations manager, find out what the background and reference check processes are. We provide some important items to consider in a different article, but here are a few important things to confirm.

See if There is a Financial Threshold for Background Checks

I spoke recently with someone who told me their human resources (HR) department had a cap on what it would pay for employment verification. Among other factors, this can be because some of our larger industry contract research organizations (CROs) and sponsors require a verbal employment verification, and background check companies will charge extra for the additional effort that takes.

In this particular instance, my friend told me that she had gut churns when interviewing a particular candidate and was counting on the employment verification to either confirm or deny her suspicions. She didn’t know HR wouldn’t conduct an employment verification if it required an extra charge. Unfortunately, sidestepping this employment verification resulted in a bad hire. She later found out that the individual had never worked with the large CRO represented on his resume. Being thorough in the background check would have avoided the situation.

You should find out if there is a limitation on how much your company will spend on any aspect of the background check. Keep in mind that a thorough background check goes well beyond a criminal history and employment verification analysis. If there is a threshold set for any portion of the background check, either obtain permission to exceed that threshold or speak to your leadership about alternative methods of obtaining a thorough result.

Always Do Both

Often companies will skip reference checks, but as noted above, background checks aren’t always effective. Because of our experience with fake job applicants, we actually put more stock in reference checks—if they are done correctly—especially when it comes to confirming the experience of contractors.

Just know that background checks aren’t going to be effective in some instances and reference checks aren’t effective in others. Do both and you will increase your chances of confirming the candidate’s qualifications.

Reference Checks Should Always be Verbal

Why? For two reasons. First, references can be easily falsified. Fake job applicants will go to great lengths to represent someone as a past clinical operations manager when they are really a sister, a wife, a friend, a colleague, or someone from their “fake company” arrangement.

Business e-mails can be spoofed, so even if the candidate is using an e-mail from a well-known company domain, don’t assume it is valid. Create a reference template that includes open-ended questions that cover hard and soft skills. Then verbally speak to each reference. Verify the candidate’s title, the dates they worked together, and the company where they worked together—and then dig into the reference questions. Be sure to listen with your ears and with your gut. Pay attention to what they are saying as well as their pauses while also tuning into energy shifts. If you are “using your gut” during these calls, you will be able to feel it if something is amiss.

Which brings me to the second reason why you want to verbally check references. People are more likely to be forthcoming with the truth when in a verbal discussion versus responding to a questionnaire through e-mail. When you ask a direct question, honest people will want to answer it. They may still pause, but they will be more honest with their answers. And of course, you are looking for references who will answer your direct questions about the candidate’s hard and soft skills.

Was the Company in Operation When the Candidate “Worked” There?

I recently had an applicant whose resume showed she was employed by a company two years before it was formed. We also consistently see where folks state they worked for a company after it was no longer in business. Always make sure the candidate’s employment dates align to when the companies were active, so that you can catch fake job applicants who represent they worked for a company before or after the company actually existed.

We have also seen a strong trend of candidates listing multiple companies on their resume which did exist, but which have been acquired or gone out of business. This act alone doesn’t necessarily mean fraudulence, but digging deeper to verify employment can be a challenge. And in some instances, impossible.

In Conclusion

Currently, approximately 60% of the candidates applying to our open positions are proven to be fake job applicants. It takes time to identify those candidates who are valid…and unfortunately, it isn’t always possible to prove that a candidate is fake (until it is too late). But if you don’t try your best to implement the advice above, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself when what you thought was a golden, new hire turns out to be a tin-plated fake.