<P> A number of annual reports, including BDO Stoy Hayward's Fraudtrack 4 and CIFAS's (The UK's fraud prevention service)' The Enemy Within' have showed a rising level of major discrepancies and embellishments on CVs over previous years . </P> <P> Almost half (48%) of organizations with fewer than 100 staff experienced problems with vetted employees . </P> <P> Thirty - nine percent of UK organizations have experienced a situation where their vetting procedures have allowed an employee to be hired who was later found to have lied or misrepresented themselves in their application . </P> <P> Since the onset of the financial crisis of 2007--2010, the level of fraud has almost doubled and some experts have predicted that it will escalate further . Background - checking firm Powerchex has claimed the number of applicants lying on their applications has been increasing since the summer of 2007 when the financial crisis began . In 2009, Powerchex claimed that nearly one in 5 applicants has a major lie or discrepancy on his or her application . </P>

The main legal reason for performing a thorough background check of all applicants is to