Resume padding is nothing new, but the high-tech ways people are circumventing checks are. For example:

Some applicants are providing employers with toll-free phone numbers, which are answered by operators of Web sites that not only offer phony academic degrees, but also “verify” a job seeker’s education.

And, in an effort to put more credibility into embellishing their resume, some candidates are paying hackers to plug their names into a class list database of a university they claim to have attended.

Perhaps the most disturbing comment from the article is this one:

The background search firm ADP Screening and Selection Services, in a 2003 study, found that more than 50 percent of the people on whom it conducted employment and education checks had submitted false information, compared with about 40 percent in 2002.

50 percent!?! Of course, perhaps such screening only happens with a small fraction of suspicious cases, although I suspect that large firms suspect everyone. Still, that’s a huge percentage. Anyone know more about this problem, even just anecdotal evidence?