We recently had a situation where a candidate’s ID didn't pass Deel verification (our payroll/compliance for contractors). We had already made an offer and started onboarding before the red flags became undeniable. Since then, I’ve started running deeper background checks (ID, address, and references) and the results are eye-opening: one candidate just failed because their ID was flagged as blatant fraud.
It’s getting incredibly frustrating. The majority of applicants for our remote tech roles currently seem scammy and a massive waste of time. I’ve now made it mandatory to include a physical address, mobile number, and a LinkedIn profile to filter the noise, but even that isn't a 100% fix.
Red flags to watch out for:
- Email addresses which contain firstname.lastname random numbers
- No Linkedin page/ linkedin with no image or connections
- Readily available for a role, no current work
- Past experiences start right after the previous one ends with no breaks - pretty unusual
- Try to catch them out with some questions on their location ie: What is the time for you, your favourite museum/coffee shop/local football team
We have sent some background checks including reference, ID and address. One candidate failed with their ID coming back as fraud. They also tend to use very similar emails to their own for the references (name.surname123@) not company emails.
If anyone else has come across this let me know
EDIT:
Red Flag - Asian with western name but no ties to that country
I want to preface this by saying that these red flags don't necessarily constitute a fraudulent candidate. However, of the ones I have come across, they all have these traits in common.