Job applicants urged to protect their CVs

Posted on 12 November 2008

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Contractors applying for employment roles have been reminded of the need to adopt a cautious approach where their personal details are concerned.

An experiment conducted by iProfile.org has highlighted the risks of failing to conduct research into prospective employers and take sufficient care over who has access to CVs.

The firm placed a fake advertisement for a job with a bogus company, yet still received 107 resumes from different applicants.

In each case, a simple web search would have revealed that the company did not exist, yet many apparently did not take the time to discover this fact.

Rick Bacon, chief executive officer of iProfile, said his firm had been "shocked" to discover how many people passed on their personal details without checking the credibility of the recipient.

He added: "Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the UK and sending your CV without first checking out where it is going or masking your personal details is akin to giving an identity fraudster your life history on a plate."

Speaking in 2006, detective chief superintendent Nigel Mawer of the Metropolitan Police Economic and Specialist Crime Unit said online ID theft was "the latest way" criminals were looking to make money.

Category: Contractor News

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