Have you ever shopped on Amazon? You can buy books, medicines, music, and diplomas! DIPLOMAS?! Yes, indeed. Anyone without an actual diploma can purchase one on Amazon (or a number of other sites, google it!). One satisfied customer said, “My son got the job he wanted. It looks so real.” To which came this inquiry, “Does this really look like the real thing? I’ve received an offer for a new job, and they’re asking for a copy of my diploma, which I don’t have, and I would hate to give two weeks’ notice to my current employer, and for this not to work.”

What is an employer to do when a market designed to provide gag gifts or duplicates of actual diplomas is used for nefarious purposes? Call on Your Proactive Truth Partner, Commercial Investigations LLC. Yes, our investigators here are trained experts and we will put in the time and effort to get verification directly from the educational institution. Sometimes our investigators can spot issues from a copy of the diploma. Does the watermark on the document look too wide or too narrow? Does the document’s verbiage match the standard pattern for this particular school? Are the signatories on the diploma by the correct persons for the year of issuance? This is why you should not accept a diploma, degree, or certificate at face value, although getting a copy of the document can assist in further investigations, especially if the institution is stating they do not have any records for the individual.

There are times when records do need to be updated or were lost or destroyed due to age. Having a copy of someone’s diploma can be beneficial in those situations if the institution can verify its validity. If there was an honest mistake, it is resolved. If the individual does not truly have a diploma, that is brought to light. If the diploma is forged, well, that could also be found out.

When hiring, please do not accept a copy of a diploma as verification of education. Let us do the heavy lifting for you. Commercial Investigations only accepts primary source verification, we go directly to the school or to a database that the school uses to verify education.

Commercial Investigations LLC has an eye for unmasking fake diplomas. We are, after all, licensed private investigators. If you wish to discuss education verification options, please reach out to us for additional information. Together, we can protect!

Check out a recent article on diploma forgeries on our blog.