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While the Consulate welcomes all legitimate travelers, anyone committing fraud to obtain a visa can be charged with crimes in the United States as well as in India. The film actors, directors and their companions who used fraudulent documents have received a lifetime bar from ever traveling to the United States. According to Consul General David Hopper, “The Consulate’s action should not be viewed as a condemnation of the south Indian film industry. The Consulate acknowledges the artistic and commercial successes that have made this industry known and admired around the world. We also recognize and welcome the increasing technical and artistic collaboration between Indian film makers and the film industries in other countries, including the U.S. It is unfortunate that some people in the industry have misused the well-earned reputation and stature of the Indian film industry for illegal purposes.”
Visa applicants can find free and complete information about visa requirements and the application process from the Consulate and VFS, the Consulate’s authorized visa appointment services provider. Consular Chief Mark Fry states that, “Applicants should strictly avoid documents sold by document vendors or brokers, and only submit genuine documents. Potential visitors to the United States are most likely to receive a visa if they tell the truth on all visa forms and during the interview with a consular officer.” |
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| 2,60,000 UNDOCUMENTED INDIANS LIVING IN THE US |
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February 2008: The Delhi Police arrest travel agent Ajay Shukla and his aides Pawan Mishra and Gur Sahib Singh for procuring over a hundred US visas using forged documents. Each visa was sold for Rs 5 lakh. Shukla was arrested near the US Embassy, while Singh, who was standing in the queue for submitting visa applications, was nabbed with fake documents.
January 2008: Jet Airways air hostess Aliya Rizvi arrested for forging a marriage certificate and taking Ahmedabad-based businessman Rajesh Trivedi, posing as her husband "Abbas Rizvi", to the US. Aliya was allegedly paid Rs 1.8 lakh by touts Altaf Hassan Shaikh and Yusuf Akram Baig.
October 2007: Inquiry ordered after immigration officials stop four Indians trying to go to Germany using official passports. Investigations reveal the passports were issued to members of an Army Band, which had participated in an international concert in Germany. The CBI later book Lt Col HPS Bedi, posted in the ceremonial and welfare directorate of the Army, Harleen Chadda, wife of Lt Col KS Chadda of the same directorate, and Lance Naik Suresh Babu for their involvement in the racket.
April 2007: BJP MP Babubhai Katara held at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi while trying to smuggle out a woman and a boy on his family's diplomatic passport. Police later arrest a few touts, who reveal the names of four other parliamentarians — Mohammed Tahir Khan, Mitrasen Yadav and Ashok Rawat of the BSP and Ramswaroop Koli of the BJP. |
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Document Fraud Investigation |
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Document fraud refers to the manufacture, sale, or use of counterfeit identity documents – such as fake driver’s licenses, birth certificates, Social Security cards, or passports – for immigration fraud or other criminal activity. Document fraud also involves efforts to obtain genuine identity documents through fraudulent means and the alteration of valid documents to be used for fraudulent purposes. These activities have helped millions of illegal aliens unlawfully obtain employment in this country. They have also helped criminals and even terrorists evade detection and embed themselves in our society.
The threat posed by document fraud is exemplified by the fact that at least seven of the 9/11 hijackers obtained genuine Virginia identity documents through fraud. Using these valid ID cards, the hijackers were able to board commercial aircraft for the attacks. Earlier this year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported to El Salvador a man who helped two of the 9/11 hijackers obtain fake Virginia residency certificates allowing them to obtain valid Virginia identity cards for use in boarding the aircraft.
In recent years, document fraud has grown increasingly widespread. The sophistication of these schemes has also grown, as document forgers increasingly use computer software and high-resolution digital scanners to ply their trade. In the past, the primary tools of the counterfeit document trade were typewriters and pieces of plastic. Additionally, the Internet is being used more frequently to market fake documents to customers. |
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Firms step up security to counter terror |
Barrage of measures adopted |
By HARSHA PRAMOD @ Monday, December 15, 2008 11:49 AM |
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The terrorist attacks in Mumbai have sent shockwaves throughout the country. They were clearly an assault on economic targets and symbols of success. The hotel industry, which bore the brunt of the violence, was taken aback by the magnitude of the attack. Corporates were also not ready to take chances, and feared they could be soft targets for the terrorists. For India Inc, any amount of precaution was not enough.
Bangalore houses institutions such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the National Aeronautics Laboratory (NAL) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) as well as IT companies and MNCs. Bangalore was put on the terror map with the attack on the IISC in December 2005. The series of blasts that occurred in Bangalore has made people more cautious. Following the blasts, many corporates asked their employees to work from their homes for a couple of days. Many people in Bangalore began avoiding crowded places such as malls and theatres.
The government of Karnataka assessed the level of security in the state and held meetings with corporate heads. The government wanted corporates and the hotel industry to step up their security and to work closely with the civil and police administration. They were instructed to keep a close watch on foreign nationals and other visitors. |
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EDS, MphasiS initiate 'Operation Verify' |
By siliconindia news bureau
Thursday,18 December 2008, 08:30 hrs IST |
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Bangalore: If you thought that only an application for a passport necessitates a verification check, you are wrong. Global outsourcing provider EDS in collaboration with it's Indian subsidiary MphasiS, has decided to go all-out on an employee verification process on candidates who have joined the company before May 2007. Employees who have joined them post 2007 will also be covered if only reference checks have been carried out earlier. The process of verification of educational qualification and past employment records of the employees has been entrusted with a third party agency. |
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More firms run crime check on candidates |
4 Nov 2008, 0057 hrs IST, Nitasha Natu, TNN |
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MUMBAI: The arrest of technologically proficient and well-placed young men for terror activities has sent alarm bells ringing amongst Indian
organisations hiring new
recruits. An increasing number of employers are now seeking criminal background verification of their candidates.
"Companies that have been asking for education and employment-related verification of candidates, such as authenticity of university certificates, tenure and designation, are now requesting for criminal record searches. This trend has seen an upswing for the past six months. Banking and finance sectors, IT and BPOs top this list,'' says Ashish Dehade, an industry expert.
"Earlier, the assumption was that terrorists came only from a particular background. But that myth has been shattered,'' he says. Indian Mujahideen suspect Mohammad Peerbhoy used to work as a principal software engineer with an MNC, before he was arrested by the crime branch.
According to a national report on screening trends by a background screening provider, maximum number of criminal discrepancies were reported from north India (46%), followed by south India (35%), 15 % from west India and 4 % from east India. This report was based on 1.5 million background checks conducted in India over the period of January 2007-August 2008.
Criminal background checks are conducted at three levels—through local police station and court record searches, multiple database checks and internet/media checks. Police station checks involve verifying a candidate's undisclosed criminal history (if any) in the jurisdiction where he lives.
All checks are initiated only after an authorisation in writing is provided by the candidate. "International organisations also insist on a more elaborate fingerprint check, at times. The applicant signs a standard disclaimer, after which his fingerprints are run through FBI scans,'' says Singh, adding that she also gets requests from organisations to verify if an applicant has been involved in any kind of union or outfit.
Experts point out that internet checks are of importance because several instances of violations of human rights, criminal and immoral incidents may escape being registered at police stations, but the media usually reports them. For instance, one of India's largest BPOs had hired a candidate to be their training manager and it was only through criminal record searches on the web that he was identified as having been involved in pornography in the past.
Background screening does not guarantee that nothing untoward will happen. "A candidate, who has been background screened and found clear doesn't imply that he remains so in the future as well. He may commit a crime after joining the organisation. This is where a new concept `Infinity Screening' comes in. If checks are conducted every year, candidates having criminal records would rather leave the job than get exposed,'' |
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Fake CVs: Firms increase check points |
| 22 Feb 2008, 0038 hrs IST, Mini Joseph Tejaswi & Debojyoti Ghosh, TNN |
BANGALORE: With candidates of questionable background swamping the job market, enterprises are now beefing up their security thresholds by adding more layers to the hiring process.
The mass recruitment phenomenon in IT/ITeS, BPO, financial services, telecom and retail sectors has led to a spurt of false CVs and fake candidates. TOI had reported that Wipro had been hit again by candidates who had faked a number of their documents.
"The country's recruitment system is not robust enough to discourage deceptive practices. Circumstances also are such that people get carried away. Without having proper systems and processes in place, it's tough to filter fraud cases, due to the sheer magnitude of hiring,'' says Rohit Mahajan, ED (advisory) in KPMG's newly set up forensic services business in India.
Companies have started investing in hiring systems and a background check is increasingly becoming a mandatory practice. Compensation, experience, technology/domain exposure, education, address and previous employer are often fudged.
According to a study, 15 or 20 out of every 100 resumes carry elements that are false. Another study finds that hiring, training and on-boarding a bad entry-level candidate for three months would cost a company upto Rs 3 lakh. In the case of lateral hirings, the costs are double that.
With verification, hiring costs go up by 12%-15%. Scouting for a candidate's data at colleges they studied at and companies they worked in previously is a time-consuming and expensive affair. What makes matter difficult is that no university in India has online data available for public access, unlike in the US, UK and Europe. So verifying educational data of a candidate takes 15 to 21 days here, whereas it takes only 24 to 48 hours in the US.
"Irrespective of this additional expenditure in cost and time, recruiters today are very particular that their candidates go through a comprehensive verification exercise. Companies are not just keen to know about the integrity of the probable employee, but also what they can expect from that person, since productivity optimization is key to survival," says Madan Padaki, CEO of MeritTrac.
Employers are particular that their critical information is safe and dealt with by legitimate, expert hands. "As a result, employee verification — largely outsourced to independent firms — is gradually becoming a part of best practices of Indian HR,"
The country currently has over two dozen employee verification agencies and seven of them are certified by National Skills Registry of Nasscom. Depending on the kind of information needed, these agencies charge anything between Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 per candidate.
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Quick exit for backdoor jobs |
5 Mar 2007, 2046 hrs IST, Mona Ramavat, TNN |
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It was nothing short of facing the firing squad for hundreds of employees from two big companies who were fired recently.
While most were labelled 'non-performers', a few failed on the employee verification check that their "fake'documents were put through. Could there have been a harder way to learn that fraudulence can't go scot-free?
"Certainly not,'responds Jagat Jyoti Mohanty, HR manager with Airtel, adding, "Integrity cannot be compromised. If an employee's resume has any discrepancies, he will be relieved of his/her responsibilities. Mohanty's company will "soon outsource the background check operations to an agency".
In cases where a large volume of talent intake is needed, the process of verification continues even after recruitment. A candidate's educational qualifications, previous employment record and health record are usually checked.
It's a basic check, and doesn't take much time. Further investigations involve checking on police records, family and lifestyle details etc for high level employees, which could take anywhere from a week to 30 days.
Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is growing as an industry in itself. "Though in its nascent stages, it is worth close to Rs 600 crores, considering the high employment and attrition rates,'informs Ajay Trehan, CEO, Auth Bridge, an investigation agency. They perform well over 3,000 background checks every month and on an average, 30 per cent resumes are found fake. Over the last two to three years, the RPO sector has grown by 30 per cent, according to industry sources. The reasons for the growth are many.
Companies think of RPO as a beneficial investment for long-term returns. Says Mukund Menon, vice president, Satyam Global HR, "It has helped build talent with the right qualifications and experience. Since we operate in various overseas locations, it is critical that all our associates be compliant with the global standards that we adhere to.'
Companies dealing with financial transactions and sensitive data have become extra cautious about background checks. Topping the list are BPOs, IT companies and banks. But other industries like real estate, pharmaceutical and FMCGs that have traditionally not used RPO services are also investing in it. Typically, information pertaining to top and middle level employees come under the scanner the most. "On an average, companies spend four to seven per cent of a potential employee's offered package on his/her background check, Several companies that have a small employee base conduct their own background checks rather than investing in outsourced services. Says an employee of a corporate bank, "We rely the most on a candidate's previous employer's feedback and reference letters.'
But a lot of fraudulence occurs in details regarding past employment, where experience and reference letters are faked. "Reference letters and salary slips can be manipulated. If a company is offering a package you can't resist, you are tempted enough to change a few facts here and there,'shares Giridhar Kumar (name changed), BPO employee. |
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| Verifacts Bangalore, Oct 2008 |
| Verifacts employee Mr LAKSHMI NARAYAN deputed at "Mind Tree Consulting" bags second successive award for " Star Employee" of the month. |
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| Verifacts Bangalore, July 2008 |
Verifacts successfully completed ISO 9001: 2000 certification. |
| Verifacts Bangalore, April 2010 |
Verifacts successfully completed ISO 27001: 2005 certification. |
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