Candidate Fraud - Just When You Thought You'd Seen It All

I've been in the Healthcare Technology Staffing Industry for almost 10 years, and the Recruitment/Staffing industry for almost 20....  I honestly thought I'd seen it all, from the lamest to the most elaborate excuses for not showing up to work or to an interview - to the most outrageous reasons for being fired, but recently I learned there was a level of unprofessionalism I had yet to uncover.

Not long ago while pre-screening candidates for an upcoming training related project I communicated via email and spoke with a very friendly woman with an unusual name.  She was polite, well spoken and knowledgeable.  Later a technical subject matter expert also spoke with the woman and was impressed with her technical knowledge and communication skills so it was recommended that the candidate be hired for the project.

The next step was for the candidate to speak with a travel agent and schedule travel... however at that time it was discovered that the candidate booking the travel was a man... he provided ID, Credit Card and other information with the same name as the person that had screened for the job.  When called to inquire if he was the same person that was screened, he had difficulty communicating, spoke very little English and made excuses to get off the phone, eventually he admitted to having someone else screen for him because "he just didn't have time". 

In the past almost 20 years I have never experienced anything like this.  Maybe I'm naïve in thinking that people would never go to this length and assume they wouldn't be caught. Not only did the candidate make a huge mistake by having someone else screen for him, but the woman that accepted the call and took the interviews for him is just as fraudulent.  Even more concerning is the fact that they must've gotten away with this in the past. 

Had the candidate managed to get to the client site without the deception being discovered, it wouldn't have taken the client long to determine he was not a fit for the job.  The repercussions could've been deep and long lasting for everyone involved. 

From a candidate/job-seeker standpoint it is NEVER advisable to falsify information or allow someone else to represent you in the interview process. 
From an employer standpoint, it is increasingly more important to fact check and back check each candidate prior to placing them on a project.

 SMH....