Diploma fraud is contaminating recruitment at scale
Specialist screening firms report that 34% of candidates exaggerate their academic qualifications and 12% present entirely fabricated degrees. Over 2,600 diploma mills operate globally. The cost of a bad hire due to falsified qualifications is estimated at 15-21% of the role's annual salary, excluding legal and reputational costs. Manual verification takes 3-5 business days per candidate and relies heavily on self-declaration.
How CheckFile verifies degrees and diplomas
Document authentication
Analysis of security features on the certificate (seal, signature, hologram), OCR extraction of key data (name, institution, programme, award date), and detection of digital alterations to the document.
Issuing institution verification
Validation of the institution's existence and accreditation against official registers: HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency), the OfS Register of English higher education providers, and the ENIC-NARIC network for international qualifications.
Academic pathway consistency
Cross-checking the presented qualification against the candidate's declared academic history: dates, institutions, and qualification level. Detection of inconsistencies typical of degrees purchased from diploma mills.
Manual degree verification vs CheckFile
| Capability | Manual process | CheckFile |
|---|---|---|
| Verification time | 3-5 business days | < 10 seconds |
| Institution verification | Email/phone | Automatic via registers |
| Diploma mill detection | ||
| International qualifications (ENIC-NARIC) | ||
| Audit trail for HR file | ||
| Cost per verification | £15-50 (HR staff time) | < £1 |