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If you are thinking of working in the civil service, for either local or national government, it’s only reasonable that you can expect to encounter some level of background checking. In certain government departments, contractors or full-time staff members dealing with sensitive or classified information must undergo security clearance. This security clearance is a type of background checking and is done in addition to the basics of verifying identity, and checking someone’s academic qualifications. There are six different levels of security clearance, and job adverts will usually clearly state what level of checks are required.

Who Needs Security Clearance?

Security clearance is usually needed for contractors and full-time employees working in the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence (MoD), and other government departments where access to sensitive information is plausible. From a contractor point of view, it is particularly relevant for workers involved in projects like IT systems.

Getting security clearance involves a national security vetting process with background checks assessing identity, reliability, integrity, and suitability for someone having access to national secrets. The depth of checks varies based on clearance level and exposure to sensitive information. Clearance is usually granted for a set period of time and once it has expired, the person will have to reapply before going back to work in that role. All security vetting for government roles in the UK is done through the National Security’s Vetting Solution (NSVS) portal.

Levels of Security Clearance in the UK

There are six main levels of security clearance, ranging from the basic to the very detailed and involved. Job adverts will typically state whether clearance is needed, and at which level.

Level 1 – Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS): this is entry level security checking. It looks eligibility to work in the UK and whether the application has any sort of criminal record.

Level 2 – Accreditation Check (AC): Used in aviation security for those with access to restricted areas, valid for up to five years. This is the sort of check a baggage handler would need.

Level 3 – Counter Terrorist Check (CTC): This check is for individuals working in areas at risk of a terrorist attack and will look at the applicant’s backgrounds and people they associate with.

Level 4 – Security Check (SC): People who have access to sensitive documents will need his level of check, which is formally reviewed after five years.

Level 5 – Enhanced Security Check (eSC): These are checks done in addition to standard security checks for specific work requiring additional checks.

Level 6 – Developed Vetting (DV): For individuals with frequent, uncontrolled access to top-secret information. Developed vetting looks in depth at someone’s background, friends, and family.

Security clearance is unavoidable for anyone engaged in government work involving sensitive information. The system is complicated and for the most detailed levels of checks, can take several months to complete. You may be able to start work after having preliminary checks, on restricted duties until the more detailed checks are complete.

Buying a house is often listed as one of the most stressful life experiences anyone can go through, right up there with getting married or suffering a bereavement. It’s not something that most of us do often, and because of this, we are often unprepared for the paperwork and identity checks we go through with the estate agents and the lawyers. One of the most unexpected parts of the process for many buyers is that their lawyer asks them to verify their identity before even starting to work for them on the legalities of buying a new home. Why do lawyers request evidence of your identity and address when you sell or buy a property? It’s all about complying with the money laundering law, and making sure your money comes from legitimate sources.

Identity Checks and Residential Conveyancing

For UK residents, acceptable evidence of identity for buying or selling properties typically includes showing one of the following original documents:

• Current signed passport
• Current UK or European Union photo-card driving licence
• Current provisional UK photo driving licence – old-style non-photo provisional licences are not acceptable
• Benefit book or letter from the Benefits Agency confirming entitlement to benefits
• Residency permit or Home Office alien registration card
• UK armed services ID card

There are other less commonly held forms of identification such as firearms certificates which can pe provided if you can’t show any of the more commonly used documents. You will also need to show the originals, not scans or photographs.

In addition, your lawyer will want to conform your current address, and this will involve showing an additional form of ID showing your name and address such as a council tax bill, bank statement, insurance certificate, utility bill or mortgage statement. There are also additional options for clients who can’t show the usual forms of ID, such as getting a sworn statement from a legal professional. If you think you might struggle to pull together the right paperwork, discuss your situation with your lawyer who should be able to give good advice on the best route for you.

Company Buyers

Another common scenario is when a company is purchasing property, either as an asset or for a member of staff to live in. This sort of transaction involves proving the identity of the company as well as the directors. Purchasers will be asked for a utility bill or bank statement in the company name, and the directors will prove their identities in the same way as private purchasers would.

Selling a Property

The other side of the property transaction is the seller, and people who are selling properties will also have to verify their identity before the sale goes through. Often, the sellers will be buying another property elsewhere, but won’t have to go through the proving identity process twice. Lawyers will want to take copies of documents presented as they have to retain these to prove that they have been complying with the money laundering rules for all of their conveyancing clients.

 

There has been a dramatic increase in Right to Rent checks conducted by letting agents after the introduction of new, higher fines at the start of 2024. Industry bodies are reporting a staggering 577% year-on-year rise in these checks by lettings agents, driven by the significantly higher civil penalties—up to £20,000—for landlords and lettings agents failing to carry out identity checks and make sure that all adults living in a property are in the UK legally. It is mandatory for all landlords and letting agents in England to ensure that individuals without lawful immigration status do not rent in the private sector.

Penalties for landlords found to be renting to illegal tenants have risen sharply since the start of 2024. Initial breaches are now punished with fines up to £5,000 per lodger and £10,000 per occupier, with repeat offences escalating to £10,000 and £20,000 respectively. Research the fines issued for non-compliance in the first three months of 2024 are more than for the whole of 2023. Under the new checking rules, agents and landlords must conduct Right to Rent checks through either a manual in-person check, identity document validation technology (IDV), or the Home Office’s online verification tool.

What to Expect from a Right to Rent Check

Since October 2022, agents and landlords are no longer allowed to accept identity documents via email for Right to Rent checks. This means that tenants either have to bring their documents in person to the letting agency or landlord’s office, or use an accredited online portal. Your landlord is trying to establish one fact only – that you are in the UK legally. If you can show a valid UK or Irish passport, than that will be the end to the checks. If you are from another country, then the landlord will want to see any visa stamps in the passport confirming your right to live in the UK. Alternatively, you can provide them with a Home Office share code which lets them log into an official website and verify your identity and your immigration status.

Increasing Demand on the Rented Sector

Although the Right to Rent checks themselves shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, but tenants are reporting some delays in processing the identity checks before they can get into their new home. This is partly because it is not just the people who are named on the tenancy agreement who have to be checked, the rules require that everyone over the age of 18 who will be living in the property be checked.  Another driver behind the surge in Right to Rent check is the expanding rental market. According to the latest lettings market news, there was a 28% increase in people moving into a rental property from April 2023 to April 2024.

If you are thinking of moving into a rented property, be prepared to be asked to prove your identity. Get these checks done at an early stage of the application process before any subsequent checks into credit worthiness or references.

British employers have a legal responsibility to make sure that anyone working for them in the UK has the right to work here before they start their job. Recently, fines for non-compliance have tripled. Government authorities have also put more effort into auditing businesses who they suspect have sloppy identity verification processes for new workers. From January 2024, new regulations set the maximum fines at £60,000 per illegal worker, depending on the severity and recurrence of the violation.

In cases where the government believes that a company has been deliberately hiring illegal workers, there is also the possibility that the directors could be jailed for as long as five years. Many companies in the UK have a special licence which allows them to employ foreign workers.  If these businesses are found to have been breaking the rules, then their licence will be withdrawn. Any company operating in the UK must be prepared for an audit, so here’s what to expect.

What is a Statutory Excuse?

If the inspectors arrive in your company and start to audit your business, then don’t panic. They are both looking for illegal workers, and evidence that you have done everything you can to work out who is legally allowed to work in the UK. If you can prove that you did everything possible, and kept all the right paperwork, this is a defence known as a “statutory excuse”. It will let you off the hook in terms of any potential fines. In order to put in a statutory defence if one of your employees is found to be in the UK illegally you have to prove that you have carried out one of the following:

• Manual Right to Work check
• Home Office Right to Work check through their online portal
• Right to Work Check through an approved Identity Service provider (IDSP)

What is Involved in Right to Work checks?

Whatever methods you use for checking the right to work, you must do everything you can to make sure the documents you see to prove someone’s identity are genuine. Make sure documents actually relate to the person standing in front of you. Make copies of any documents someone presents to you, and keep them securely. This applies while the person is employed, and for two years after. Many employers choose to outsource Right to Work checks, but they have to ensure their chosen provider is keeping adequate records too.

Employers also should have a process for re-checking employees with time-limited work permits. Put dates for checks in the diary so that they are completed before the original permit expires. It’s also important to be mindful of legislation around discrimination and ensure that everyone is treated equally and fairly. Use the same process for right to work checks across all applicants and employees, including British citizens. Base employment decisions solely on job suitability, preventing indirect discrimination due to perceived or actual protected characteristics. It would be illegal, for example, to have a policy of only running Right to Work checks on people with certain appearance.

 

The property market is picking up again as interest rates start to fall, and with summer being the peak time of year to move house, estate agents around the country are dealing with prospective new buyers. HMRC, the government body which manages tax, is vigilant about enforcing anti-money laundering (AML) regulations and is cracking down on agents who fail to conduct thorough checks on people who express an interest in buying or selling. Government rules specify that estate agents must run identity checks on not just the buyers, but the sellers too.

Fines for Non-Compliance

HMRC data reveals in a six-month period in 2022, 68 estate agents across the UK were fined a total of £519,000 for non-compliance with rules aimed at preventing money laundering from criminal activities. An additional 56 fines were issued between January 1 and March 31, 2023. Estate agents have to register with HMRC, and submit checks on sellers and buyers regularly.

Estate agents are supposed to log into an online portal, and enter the names and addresses of the people who they want to check. The software will then allow the agent to upload an image of a passport or driving licence which the client has provided, and compare that to a selfie of the customer taken with a webcam.

Property-Related Identity Checks Fraud

According to the industry, the property market in the UK is seeing “several thousand” cases of fraud each year. Some attempts are blatant, like using a photo on a stolen passport, while others are more sophisticated. Criminal groups continually devise sophisticated methods to launder money through property, which places increasing pressure on the industry to adopt more sophisticated measures to stop them. Fraudulent documents are becoming increasingly more difficult to detect which is why technology is being used more frequently to pick up fakes and forgeries.

Be Prepared When Buying or Selling

When the market is moving quickly, any extra paperwork which adds delays into the system can be frustrating. Remember though that all the other parties who might be interested in buying the property will be going through the same processes as you. Visit the estate agent early in the process of viewing properties, and consider going through the identity verification before you’re ready to start putting in offers. If you are thinking of viewing multiple properties with different agents, you might have to repeat the process with every office.

Identity checks are usually simple and will involve showing some sort of photographic ID such as your passport or driving licence. If you are buying your property with another person, or selling as a joint owner, then both people will have to prove their identities to comply with the rules. Your estate agent or lawyer will be able to provide advice and guidance on managing the process if you are not sure what documents you should provide. People from outside the UK, who have the right to buy property in the UK, might have to provide more detailed information to comply with the legal requirements.

Why Identity Checking is Important

Identity theft and associated scams are frequently covered in the press and on television. It’s something which many people are worried about. For businesses, protecting against fraud is crucial. A 2023 report into fraud and identity reveals that 69% of organizations suffered increased fraud losses compared to 2022. Additionally, 35% of consumers perceive themselves to be at risk of fraud, with identity theft identified as the most significant threat. One of the only strategies to prevent fraud is identity verification. Increasingly, identity checking is being applied not only to customers but also to employees. There are many ways of proving someone’s identity, but this usually involves drawing data from various sources, including online data sources, and cross-referencing it with information from credit reference agencies.

Face to Face Identity Verification

Traditionally, identity verification has been done face-to-face, whether checking out potential customers or new employees before offering a job. However, technological advancements have made online identity checks possible. This move was accelerated further by the shift to remote work during the pandemic. Online identity verification typically involves asking the customer or employee to create an account of a website. Companies then check the details they enter against trusted platforms like the Government Gateway portal or using credit reference agencies. There is also a strong possibility that AI could help improve identity verification processes by running checks more quickly. AI can pick up anomalies or inconsistencies more easily than human researchers.

Why Do Businesses Put So Much Effort into Identity Checking?

There are many benefits of rigorous identity verification from an employer’s point of view, but these aren’t always so obvious to the applicant. It’s important to remember that although jumping through identity checking hoops before you start work might be inconvenient, the employer isn’t doing it to annoy you or make life difficult for you. The main reasons that companies spend so much time and money vetting their employees using technology include:

• Cost savings: Automated identity verification processes can significantly reduce losses due to fraud and dishonest activities when compared with an in person or face to face process.
• Fraud prevention: Companies use automated identity checking to try to stay one step ahead of the fraudsters who are constantly refining their techniques.
• Legal compliance: There can be serous legal consequences for employing individuals without proper qualifications or the right to work in the UK.

Each company tailors its identity checking procedures to suit its specific needs, and may use varying checking processes depending on the seniority of the position involved. At a minimum, verifying job applicants’ identities involves requesting key identity documents like passports to confirm their eligibility to work in the UK. Other checks are up to the individual company. Although checking is commonplace, the methods and processes are still widely misunderstood by the general public. That means all companies should be open and transparent with applicants about what sorts of checking they are doing, and why. They should also get permission for more in-depth checks such as credit checking.

 

Landlords are increasingly campaigning for stricter measures to guard against tenants moving in and then not paying their rent. A recent landlord survey revealed that 70% of them believed that looking at tenant credit checks was a good indication of whether or not they would fall into arrears. By law, the only identity checks which a landlord or letting agency has to do is the Right to Rent check, which establishes whether someone is in the UK legally. A Right to Rent check just involves looking at passports and other immigration status documents, whereas the other screening which agencies and landlords might want to do are purely optional. This means that the checks could vary between different agencies.

Why Are Landlords Worried?

According to findings from a large lettings agency company, financial worries loom large among landlords in England, exacerbated by rising mortgage rates, heightened taxes, and escalating maintenance costs, all of which impact profitability. Increased legislation means that it’s not as easy as previous to evict tenants who cause problems or don’t pay their rent. This is good news for decent tenants who are no longer at risk of an unfair eviction, but does mean that landlords are spending more time and effort at the beginning of the tenancy to delve deeper into someone’s background. A large number of landlords have also called for local Councils or central government to set up a register which contains the names of tenants who have been proven to damage properties, or who have a history of non-payment of rent.

What Credit and other Checks Can I Expect?

As discussed previously, the only checks which are legally mandated are the checks on nationality and the right to live in the UK. Any other checks are voluntary and will vary. However, there are checks which are more common than others and prospective tenants can expect:

• Reference checking – landlords or agents will want you to supply the names and contact details of people you have rented property from before so they can vouch for you.
• Credit check – landlords are less interested in what you’re spending your money on than whether you have enough money coming in to easily meet the rent payments. Large levels of debt are going to raise concerns.
• Employment check – related to income checks, the employment check looks at whether you are telling the truth about whether you are in regular, steady employment. The actual salary is less important than the affordability of the rent.

Checks for Guarantors

For younger tenants, or for those who have a less stable income, they may be asked to provide a guarantor. A guarantor is someone who steps in if the tenant is not able to pay the rent for whatever reason. Landlords and agencies will want to run similar checks on the guarantor too. Think carefully about who you choose as a guarantor if you are asked to supply one by an agency. Usually, a parent or other close family member is an appropriate choice.

It’s common knowledge in the recruitment industry that not doing thorough background screening checks can incur significant costs for a business, both financially and in terms of reputation. If you are a job seeker looking for your next move to a new employer, or a small business owner who is thinking about hiring someone to hep your business grow and expand, then you should be prepared to carry out detailed screening, which goes beyond the basics of identity checking and making sure that someone has the right to work legally in the UK. If your prospective employer is not carrying out detailed checks, or if you as a recruiter are taking people on trust, what risks could this pose for the company?

Reducing Risks of Hiring

Screening checks play a crucial role in the hiring process by mitigating employment risks. Detailed background checks can reduce the risk of getting the wrong person, but cannot ever give a cast iron guarantee that the person you have recruited is squeaky clean. Despite this, many companies are still overlooking background checks, or just doing the bare minimum and relying on what the candidate tells them for the rest. Some of the most important risks associated with not doing background checking are:

• Financial Penalties: UK businesses are legally required to at the very least run right to work checks on their employees. Failure to do the checks or failure to keep records properly can lead to substantial fines and even imprisonment for up to five years if an illegal worker is employed.
• Reputation Management: While interviews are a good way of working out an applicant’s personality, without thorough verification checks, people who have lied about their experience or qualifications can still slip through the net. This can result in employees struggling in their roles and underperforming which has a knock-on effect on how customers perceive your organisation.
• Protecting Company Security: Sloppy background checks can compromise company and employee security. Employees with criminal records could pose risks such as theft, fraud, or embezzlement, exposing the business to significant financial liabilities. They could also pose a danger to their colleagues, or even customers.

Dealing With Risks

The first step in reducing risks associated with hiring the wrong people is to think about what damage someone could do in your organisation, given your individual circumstances. Clearly, someone in a very junior position with little access to bank accounts or other information is less of a risk than someone employed in a position with more responsibility. Once an employer has thought about the potential consequences, the steps to take in order to reduce these risks should be more obvious.

From an employee’s point of view, it’s important to realise that this higher level of background screening doesn’t mean you are suspected of anything, or being singled out. Employers are just being more cautious than they may have been in the past, and as long as you have been honest on your application form and CV, you have nothing to hide.

 

Industry experts have highlighted a worrying new trend in ways to beat sophisticated identity verification processes. A recent investigation shows that fraudsters have turned to AI and deepfake technology to beat identification checks. Scammers are helped in their activities by the fact that a third of Brits share sensitive documents online without protection. Data indicates that people aged 18 to 24 are most at risk of being hit by a scam, with 48% of them admitting to having shared ID documents via risky channels like email, social media, or messaging apps.

Although 45% of Brits say that they are aware that sharing images or scans of ID documents online could lead to fraud, 33% still do so. Also, less than a third of the British public say that they fully understand what deepfakes are and the risks they entail. Deepfakes are highly convincing videos, photos, or audio clips that mimic real people.

What are the Risks of Forged Documents?

According to industry experts, the general public’s lack of concern or awareness about digitally generated images or videos is alarming. AI technology is progressing rapidly, and although most people have heard about it in a general sense, they are unaware of what AI can be used to do. Experts advise against sending scans or photos of driving licences or passports through unencrypted channels like social media or email.

High-tech criminals can try to use AI and deepfake technology to create realistic forged documents and videos to trick traditional identification verification methods. Their end game is to try to open bank accounts or apply for credit cards. Phishing attacks, where you are encouraged to log into a fake website and share personal details, have become harder to detect due to fewer spelling and grammar errors, thanks to AI generated text.

Staying Safe from ID Scammers

If this all sounds scary, then don’t panic. Although there is growing concern about what AI can do in the wrong hands, there is still plenty you can do to protect yourself and keep your personal information and identity documents secure. To protect sensitive documents you should:

• Keep devices up to date. Always update the operating system on your phone when prompted to do so, and make sure to install updates on your laptop or tablet.
• Avoid sharing too much information openly, whether in real life, or on social media. Look at your privacy settings on social media where you share personal photos, and think carefully about the people who you have connected to.
• Try to use sites which make use of advanced biometric security systems which look for facial movements like blinks, as these are less likely to be fooled by stolen photos or deepfake images.

There are many situations in which you will be asked to prove your identity, such as when starting a new job, or when applying to rent a new property. If you are being asked to upload images of your identity documents and a selfie by other sites, always question whether the request is genuine.

Famous dating app Tinder has started to enhance its identity verification for UK users. They are doing this by implementing passport or driving licence checks alongside a video selfie. This voluntary scheme will give app users a blue tick on their profile, which is the social media standard sign that someone is genuine. Tinder has in the past been frequently targeted by fraudsters, and aims to increase user safety and confidence with this measure. Identity verification is something we are all used to, whether applying for jobs, or opening a bank account. Although it’s perhaps more unusual to be asked to prove who you are when signing up to use an app, the level of trust involved in meeting someone in real life who you’ve matched with through an app means that verifying identities of users can help reassure them in terms of safety, at least to some degree.

Tinder claims to have half a billion users around the world, and has previously made attempts to tighten up on security on the app, and reassure its users that they are meeting genuine people who are interested in a relationship rather than their bank balance. The app still advises users to make their first meetings with any strangers in a public place, and to let a trusted friend know where the meeting will take place.

Verifying Identities to be Mandatory

Although Tinder has rolled out the option to verify your identity and get a blue tick against your profile on the app, this step is not compulsory. Users are still free to download the app and start swiping without any checks into their identity. The charity Victim Support welcomes the move to verify identities but has urged platforms like Tinder to make ID verification mandatory. Charities have raised concerns about the growing numbers of romance fraudsters targeting individuals through social media sites such as Tinder. They also pointed out that victims are reluctant to report crimes to the police, due to the associated shame and stigma.

What is Romance Fraud?

Romance fraud, also known as catfishing, involves pretending to be in a romantic relationship with someone, often to scam money. Many victims send huge sums of money to their overseas “partner”, before discovering that they have been scammed. As many of the scammers operate outside the UK, getting any money they have sent back is often impossible.

Tinder’s new system aims to address these issues of romance fraud by reassuring users about the authenticity of their matches. Verified users will receive a blue camera icon badge for photo verification, a blue ID icon badge for ID authentication, and a blue checkmark for completing both steps. This system for checking the identity of Tinder users has already been introduced in Australia and New Zealand. Tinder’s statistics show that users who have gone through the steps to verify that they are who they say they are get 67% more matches than unverified users. As well as the UK, Tinder is rolling out the verification tools to the United States, Mexico and Brazil.