Online verification site, detective agencies and HR companies say CV, matrimonial and education untruths are rampant
Online verification site, detective agencies and HR companies say CV, matrimonial and education untruths are rampant
In two-and-a-half years Tushar Waghmare, a former engineer working with Air India, married 14 women.
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Arrested this August under Section 420 of the IPC, Waghmare had got away with the duplicity because none of the victims bothered with a background check.
Cops investigating the case said the fact that he was an engineer deflected any sort of suspicion.
After numerous frauds, both matrimonial and corporate, Nobby Nazareth, decided to set up TotalVishwaas.com, India's first verification portal.
"Matrimony-related frauds increased from less than 1,000 cases in 1993 to approximately 2.82 lakh cases in 2000.
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The website offers services such as employment verification, pre-employment verification, designation and salary and even conducts an international job verification across the world.
Apart from that, they also provide address verification, pre-tenancy verification to confirm the authenticity of a tenant, passport verification, court record checks and educational background checks.
Lotus Detective Agency, a 22-year old city-based company with an online presence and branches in Singapore, London, California and Dubai, reveals even more alarming statistics.
In 2009 alone, their all-India statistics show that 80 per cent lied about their salary, while 60 per cent bluffed about their qualification and experience. Over 40 per cent CVs were fabricated.
"After Section 377 of the IPC was repealed, we have seen a rise in cases of parents of brides and grooms asking us to investigate whether the other partner is a homosexual or a lesbian.
Earlier, we used to get a case a month, but in the past few months, we have been getting 15 cases a month," reveals proprietor Utpal Chaudhary.
How agencies work
Once a request is placed, agencies dispatch personnel to the earlier office or university to verify details from the HR department and university records.
"We do face resistance but people relent once they know what the information is going to be used for," said Nazareth.
However, he stresses that Totalvishwas.com is not a detective agency and cannot do character or health checks.
A majority of queries are with respect to tenants from worried NRI landlords and about the educational and employment background of potential grooms and brides selected from matrimonial sites.
"We initially thought that women, in the age group of 21 to 35, would approach us for checks on potential grooms, but were surprised to find a large percentage of men wanting a check on their future brides as well.
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A lot of parents also approached us for verification before deciding on a matrimonial alliance," states Nazareth.
India Inc says
Rahul Wadhwani, Managing Partner, Planman Consulting, a company that provides HR services and have their own screening agency, states that once a person is found guilty of lying about information, however minor, their employment is terminated and their names are stored in a red report to ensure they are not hired again.
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Their All India Red Report for 2009 indicates that 50 per cent lied about their salary and designation, 40 per cent about tenure and place of employment and 10 per cent about educational qualifications.
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"The process of verification is very slowly picking up in India as they realise the long-term benefits. At present, only 10 per cent of Indian companies opt for such checks."
Check before choosing NRI Grooms: HC
On October 18, the Bombay High Court cautioned parents to run a check on the credentials of prospective husbands, especially if they are based abroad.
They were delivering judgement on a case involving a computer engineer from Nashik and his wife who filed a case alleging mental harassment after they moved to the US.
The husband was accused of posting vulgar photographs of his wife on the internet, force her to consume beef and alcohol and wear vulgar clothes.
The wife applied for divorce seven months into the marriage.
The High Court observed, "This is an eye-opener for parents whose daughters are going to marry a person settled in a foreign country... they must take appropriate care to find out the credentials of the person."
10%
Lie about their current employment and may claim to have a job though they don't have one
30%
Lie about their designation
50%
Lie about their CTC
20%
Lie about education
Voices
If you are looking at building a career in a certain company, it will backfire for sure over the long run. u00a0Such things are only done u00a0by people in junior u00a0positions out to make a u00a0quick buck.u00a0
Junaid Khan (26), senior account executive with an ad agency
When I applied for a job at my current workplace, I hiked certain details about my earlier salary. The interview was telephonic and since we were not given salary slips at my earlier workplace, I didn't have to produce any proof.
However, I would never lie about my educational qualifications or work experience as you are u00a0u00a0bound to get caught.
Geetha Nair (23), editor with a city-based language service provider
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