How to check the authenticity of a higher education diploma. Information for the personnel officer: how to check the authenticity of a higher education diploma How to check the availability of education
How to check the authenticity of a diploma, is of interest to many employers who want to ensure the accuracy of the documents presented to them. We will tell you in this article how to check the authenticity of a diploma, whether it can be done online and how to do it if the document number is unknown - it outlines all the available verification methods and provides instructions for their implementation.
The need to verify the authenticity of the diploma
Most often, the question of how to verify the authenticity of a diploma arises for an employer when hiring a new employee for a vacant position. In this case, the algorithm of actions is fully regulated by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, and any deviations from it will be considered illegal.
However, the need to check your diploma is sometimes caused by other reasons. Especially now, when the Internet has become, if not the only, then the main source of recruiting household staff, a private provider of educational services, and even a life partner. For example, vigilance will not hurt when looking for a tutor or nanny for a child, as well as when collaborating with freelancers whose work requires special knowledge.
Verifying a diploma for authenticity: methods
How to check the authenticity of a diploma if you have doubts? There are several ways to do this, but only a few of them will provide a hundred percent result. So, if we are talking about establishing the reliability of the data that an applicant for a vacant position reported about himself, the employer, if he wants to follow the letter of the law, must perform the following actions:
- Inform the owner of the diploma of the intention to conduct an inspection and obtain his written consent to this (otherwise there is a possibility of being held liable for the illegal use of personal data). Only law enforcement agencies have the unconditional right to check diplomas and other information about citizens.
- Send an official request to the educational institution that issued the diploma. When the latter is dissolved, the request is sent to the address of the legal successor.
Important: not all educational institutions are willing to provide such information, but they are obliged to do this when the graduate himself applies. Therefore, if confirming the authenticity of a diploma is in the interests of its bearer, it is better to entrust this to him. The proof will be an official certificate certified by the head (rector) of the educational institution.
During a secret verification of a diploma, there can be no question of any request: at best, the management of the university/college will ignore it, at worst, they will report to law enforcement agencies about an attempt to illegally obtain confidential information.
Therefore, it is much easier to take advantage of the Internet and check your diploma by number online.
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Checking diploma authenticity online
How to check the authenticity of a diploma without having special powers, and is it possible to do this at all? It is possible if you know the document number. Many educational institutions today post applications on their Internet resources that allow you to complete this procedure.
To do this, you need to go to the website of the educational institution that issued the diploma, find a special service and enter the diploma number. If the document was actually issued, the owner’s data, information about the period of study and other information (for example, the name of the faculty) are usually available to the user.
If the diploma is fake, the service will not provide any data. Although in this case there is a possibility that the information simply did not enter the database or there were technical flaws in the application. However, in most cases, this means that the diploma was either not issued to the owner at all, or was issued, but in a not entirely legal way (for example, it was purchased).
How to verify the authenticity of a diploma if the educational institution does not have its own Internet site or does not have a database of graduates? In such a situation, you can use the federal register of information on documents on education, training and qualifications, posted on the official website of Rosobrnadzor.
When checking a diploma in this way, you cannot count on an instant result, since all information is provided after a certain amount of time and only after checking the validity of the request. True, avoiding refusal is quite simple - to do this, when creating an application, you just need to introduce yourself by the name of the diploma holder or a potential employer.
Before sending a request, you need to register, for which you will have to complete the following steps:
- selecting an educational institution from the drop-down list (all educational institutions in the country that have state accreditation are available);
- indication of the connection diagram to a secure corporate network (you also need to select from the drop-down list, it is better to choose the “no” option);
- indicating your own data (last name, first name, patronymic and contact phone number); if the verification is carried out on a one-time basis, then you can enter the data of the diploma holder.
Registered users have access to the education document verification service and can check the authenticity of their diploma online.
How to check the authenticity of a diploma: alternative methods
What to do if the diploma number is unknown and its authenticity is in doubt? You can try to verify the fact that a person has the education he declared using alternative methods.
Almost all social networks operating today provide the opportunity to provide a lot of information about yourself, including information about your education. Of course, the mere indication of past training in a particular educational institution does not indicate the authenticity of the diploma, but indirect evidence of this can be found. For example, if the person you are interested in has graduates from the same university as friends.
Information about the educational institution
Any student, even a former student, is well aware of his alma mater and can tell about the teachers, the teaching order, the location of classrooms, educational buildings, etc. Therefore, it makes sense to obtain such information in order to then compare it with what a citizen reports about himself, raising doubts about the reliability of the education information provided by him.
Who can check the authenticity of a diploma and why? This is usually done by employers who, for one reason or another, are not sure that the applicant’s diploma for the position is real. Or when the knowledge of an employee already engaged in labor activity clearly does not correspond to the education received. Information about the education of any person is considered personal data, so verifying it can be quite difficult. We will talk about official and unofficial ways to verify a diploma, as well as prospects in this area below.
In what cases is the employer obliged to check the authenticity of a diploma? There are not many such cases. Diplomas of applicants applying for positions in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, for work in state security agencies, and for work in the space and military industries undergo a mandatory verification procedure.
In other cases, the decision whether to check the diploma of an applicant for a position or not is made by the head of the enterprise.
How to check the authenticity of a diploma?
According to labor legislation, and specifically, Article 3 of Article 86 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, all personal information about oneself at the place of work is provided by the employee or applicant for the position. Another option is to obtain data from a third party, but only with the employee’s consent. Moreover, this consent must be provided in writing.
By law, the employer is obliged to inform the employee where, how and for what purpose he is going to check his personal data. And also about what actions will be taken in case of refusal to give written consent to the inspection.
If the employer is going to strictly follow the letter of the law, then he has two official ways to verify the authenticity of the diploma.
- An official request to law enforcement agencies. This method is usually used in cases where the employer is confident that the diploma is forged and wants to prove it so that the applicant or employee suffers the appropriate punishment. In this case, evidence of forgery will be an expert’s opinion and a certificate from the university confirming that the applicant did not study with them. At the request of law enforcement agencies, a certificate from the university is obtained quickly and smoothly. Punishment for using counterfeit documents: a large fine, correctional labor or arrest for up to 6 months.
- First, the entire form requests the employee’s written consent to check his personal data, in particular, his diploma. If the employee refuses to give such consent, this may already serve as confirmation of the assumption of forgery. In this case, the employer can act in the first way by sending an application to the relevant authorities.
It should be noted that verification through a request to the university does not always guarantee that the employer will know the real state of affairs. Many companies that sell fake diplomas have gone so far in their activities that they order diplomas directly from universities. Therefore, such educational documents are actually registered in the archives. In this case, it will be very difficult to prove that the diploma is fake.
Other ways to verify the authenticity of a diploma:
- Through social networks. Communities such as Odnoklassniki or VKontakte have extensive and detailed databases of educational institutions in our country and around the world. If the last name and first name, university and year of graduation are known, you can obtain information about whether such a person actually studied at this educational institution.
- In principle, anyone can send a request to a university, indicating the diploma number and asking to confirm its authenticity, even without using official forms and seals. But in this case, the university may refuse, considering the request unlawful.
- Requests from law enforcement agencies are satisfied in one hundred percent of cases, and some employers take advantage of this without the intention of opening a criminal case. But this is an unofficial method and to implement it you need to have friends in the police.
- If the request to confirm the authenticity of the diploma comes from the owner himself, then it is guaranteed to be satisfied. Therefore, an applicant or employee who is confident that he is right, but is suspected of forgery, can send a request to the university himself or, if possible, visit the educational institution and obtain the appropriate certificate from the archives.
- A new service has appeared on the websites of some educational institutions: after entering the diploma number, you can obtain information about the educational activities of a former student. This includes coursework and diploma titles, grades, etc. If the diploma is fake, then this information will not be detected.
This project has been mature for a long time and work on it is now being carried out quite actively. Project name: “Unified register of university graduates.” It is being developed by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.
In accordance with the project, the following information will be included in the register:
- Last name, first name and patronymic of the graduate
- His passport details
- University code according to the All-Russian Classifier
- Name of the university
- Year of ending
- Specialization
- Diploma details: series, number, date of issue
Law enforcement agencies report that there are thousands of organizations in Russia that sell fake diplomas. And hundreds of thousands of citizens work with such diplomas. Perhaps, after the creation of a single register, similar to which exists in all developed countries, this number will decrease.
Today, almost everyone dreams of financial well-being and a life of abundance. However, without a well-paid and stable job, such a goal is very difficult to achieve. Again, to get a warm place, you need to at least have a higher education. But not all young people bother with five years of university studies. They don’t understand why they should go to lectures and take exams when they can buy the coveted certificate in the transition, and then present it at the request of a potential boss.
Labor market situation
Unfortunately, the number of such would-be specialists in our country is not decreasing. In this regard, an increasing number of employers have begun to take a closer look at the document on higher education that the applicant palms off on them. But few people know how to verify the authenticity of a diploma.
This issue becomes especially relevant when it comes to hiring an employee for high positions, where, in principle, it is impossible to do without specialized education. Unfortunately, in pursuit of big money, the lion's share of applicants resort to outright deception, providing HR officers with fake certificates. Of course, the recommendations below on how to check the authenticity of a diploma will be very useful for them.
How to counterfeit
Unscrupulous individuals buy false documents and inserts from equally unscrupulous employees of academies, universities and employees of the printing houses that produce them. Signatures and seals are easily forged, and information is entered that is deliberately false. Moreover, in some cases, all this is done on fake paper. However, it is not particularly difficult for experienced specialists to recognize the above fake, although there are exceptions to the rules. One way or another, every employer will be interested in knowing how to verify the authenticity of a diploma.
Procedure
Currently, document inspections are carried out, as a rule, on applicants for positions in internal affairs bodies (police, prosecutor's office), as well as on those who want to work in the space and military industries.
However, this does not mean at all that the director of a bakery does not have the right to make sure that his subordinates have real diplomas. Are diplomas actually checked for authenticity? One way or another, it is up to the employer to check or not check. If he has time and wants to get to the bottom of the truth at any cost, then the likelihood of an inspection is quite high. However, when initiating the above procedure, you should remember some nuances.
So, how can a manager check the authenticity of a diploma?
Official request
The boss can address the request to the university that issued the document to his potential employee. However, he must obtain written permission to do this from the subordinate himself, since in Russia personal data cannot be the property of third parties.
In addition, the employer's request must be authorized by the relevant government authorities. Moreover, he must present serious arguments to justify the verification. As a rule, the justification is most often the low qualifications of the employee. To be fair, it should be said that university office workers often react very sluggishly to the above written requests from employers; they are simply too lazy to go to the archives and “raise cases,” making the excuse that the requested information cannot be disclosed by law.
Thus, checking the authenticity of a diploma is not such an easy task. Bureaucratic red tape can last up to six months, so some employers subsequently abandon this idea for fear of spending too much time, and, as you know, for every businessman it is money.
However, the boss can take an easier path: send the diploma holder directly to the university.
In other words, the subordinate himself goes to the university and brings an archival certificate from there. However, here’s the problem: today both a diploma and a certificate are easy to buy, so in this sense the employer is not protected in any way.
Social media
To solve the problem in question, you can do the following: try to find the owner’s profile on social networks. Today, every reputable university has created online communities of students and alumni. Even if your subordinate is not a member of social networks, you can always find his fellow students-friends who will be able to tell a lot of new and interesting things about their friend. Of course, this is not the most effective way to verify the authenticity of a document on higher education, but it is possible to find out whether this or that person really studied at an academy or university.
Of course, it is not always possible to verify the authenticity of a diploma. In Ukraine, by the way, this problem is quite acute. There are plenty of fake documents on higher education in the neighboring country.
Diplomas can be verified there on the Internet portal of the Ministry of Education by entering contact information.
Naked eye
How else can you verify the authenticity of a diploma? It wouldn’t hurt to act as an expert yourself.
First of all, pay attention to the quality of the paper, which should belong to the State Sign category, have a durable structure and exude a subtle smell of cellulose. Look carefully at the series and number of the document, run your finger over them: if after this some numbers are erased, then this is an obvious fake. Proof of the originality of the diploma is the presence of watermarks, which are very difficult to fake. Pay attention to how the document is filled out: in a real diploma, entries are made with high-quality matte paint.
By number
There is another way to check. Each diploma has an identification element in the form of a number. Naturally, all such codes of real university graduation documents issued are recorded in the register of the Russian Ministry of Education. To verify the authenticity of a diploma by number, you need to initiate a request on behalf of the university that issued the document.
Again, we should not forget that federal officials can provide information of interest only with the written consent of the employee and permission from law enforcement agencies.
Today there are Internet services where, using a number, you can find out the authenticity of a document. However, using them is fraught with errors, since they do not provide 100% reliable information.
Conclusion
It should be recognized that the number of false documents on higher education is steadily growing every day. That is why officials should focus on this problem and create in the near future an impressive database of authentic diplomas that were issued to university graduates.
Make a request to the educational institution where this very certificate or document was issued. However, universities often refuse to provide such information because it is “confidential”. The only solution to this situation is to draw up an official letter on company letterhead, which indicates the purpose of the inspection and the signature of the owner.
Many fake diplomas and diplomas are not actually fakes, since they are purchased directly from the university and have the appropriate registration records, the only way to verify the authenticity of the diploma is to check the relevant knowledge of the applicant.
note
Since the entire process of verifying a certificate can take about a month, not every employer will want to carry out this operation. Therefore, the diploma becomes a kind of tick during the review of the resume. The main thing is that the candidate for the position has the necessary skills and abilities that correspond to the proposed position.
Helpful advice
You are unlikely to be able to distinguish a fake diploma from a real one by appearance, because documents of this kind are usually purchased from universities or forged using high-quality equipment using appropriate materials and technologies.
Everyday using computer equipment and various PC programs, every user, entrepreneur or head of an organization must remember that, perhaps without realizing it, he is committing an offense or even a crime if unlicensed software is installed on the computer.
Instructions
If you work on a computer and use software, make sure that it is licensed. As a rule, copyrights on PCs are confirmed certificates authenticity, which are placed on packaging and storage media. If you purchased the program, check the packaging of the purchased copy of the program. Certificate authenticity in the form of a holographic sticker, heat-sensitive strips or a sticker with watermarks must be on the box in which the software product is contained. These are the so-called boxed versions. Please note that during law enforcement inspections, the first thing to check is the presence of packages with stickers. Therefore, keep the box and do not throw it away.
If the packaging has not been preserved, then check the CD itself: there should be a special marking on its non-working surface indicating the copyright holder. Check the contents of the CD: on one disc, the licensed product always contains the singular. If the disk contains several programs: the so-called collection or golden software, then know that these are pirated products, the use of which is a violation of copyright.
The need to check the authenticity of a diploma by number or complete data most often arises among large employers, but often those who hire a child’s tutor, nanny, or individual trainer also want to protect themselves from incompetence. Fake documents on higher education at any level are offered in transitions, on the Internet, and even in universities. It would be foolish to believe that potential employers live on another planet or always cross the road in the wrong place, and visit the Network solely to advertise a vacancy, so it would never occur to them to check the authenticity of the diploma of a 19-year-old “experienced specialist”, two years ago, he graduated from the master's program, or even graduate school at Moscow State University. Moreover, today there is such an opportunity.
What is the unified state register of diplomas
If previously only government agencies, defense industry enterprises and law enforcement agencies could easily check a diploma for authenticity, today this can be done by commercial organizations and even private individuals.
In order to provide employers with highly reliable information about the qualifications of candidates, as well as in order to suppress the illegal trade in university degrees and fight corruption, since 2013, a register of higher education diplomas has been available on the Rosobrnadzor website absolutely free of charge. By checking it, you can quickly verify the validity of the document, which indicates that it was issued by any institute, university or any academy of the Russian Federation.
Rosobrnadzor began collecting data on diplomas issued by universities and colleges, on the awarding of scientific titles and degrees, and even on the issuance of Unified State Examination certificates in 2012. The result of active work was an extensive information base - FRDO (federal register of documents on education, qualifications and training), which initially included information about two million state diplomas of higher vocational education that were issued to university graduates during 2010-2011.
According to government decree No. 729, all higher education institutions are required to provide information for the unified register, so the database is systematically expanding. Currently, data is being entered into it until 2009; in the near future (the target date is by 2023), it will be possible to verify the authenticity of a higher education diploma issued since 1992 inclusive. The electronic list is updated around the clock; as of December 26, 2017, the state register already contained information about 12,547,326 documents; data on new diplomas enters the system no later than 60 days from the date of issue.
How to check the authenticity of a diploma in the Unified Register of the Russian Federation
To check the authenticity of a diploma online, you need to:
It is possible that errors were made when filling out or the data has not yet been entered.
Go to the feedback form through the main page of the Rosobrnadzor website or via this link. 
Other ways to check the authenticity of a diploma
According to the established procedure, when applying for a job in government agencies, law enforcement agencies, organizations and enterprises related to state secrets and security, a request from the employer must be sent to the university, which is obliged to provide all the information of interest to the sender. But what to do if representatives of a commercial organization have doubts about the originality of the candidate’s educational documents or need to check a diploma “originally from the USSR” or issued after its collapse - in the 90s and 2000s?
Formal written request
Exit is an official request to the university, which is made with the written consent of the applicant. It is attached to the form and must comply with the requirements of the law on personal data and the Labor Code.
The letter states:
- Full name of the graduate whose document is being checked.
- Series, diploma number.
- Registration number.
- Date of issue.
A request addressed to the vice-rector or rector is made on letterhead, certified by the seal of the institution, and is registered in outgoing documents.
Sample request for authenticity of diploma
It will take about a month to verify using such a request. If an educational institution refuses to provide information - by law it is not obliged to respond even to officially registered letters from private commercial enterprises - or the university has closed and there is no legal successor, then you can inquire directly about the authenticity of the diploma from Rosobrnadzor.
If the applicant does not give voluntary informed consent to check information about himself, a petition can be sent to the university or institute to confirm or, conversely, refute the fact of issuing a diploma of a specific series and number without reference to the name and surname of the secretive candidate. The response will also not include the passport details of the refusenik, but the university will write whether the diploma was issued with the indicated number and series.
An example of confirmation of a candidate’s consent to verification
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Consent to receive personal data from third parties I , FULL NAME.________________ ____________, passport _______ number ________, issued by _____________________________________________________________________ registered ___ at the address: _____________________________________________________, I give my consent to the company "...", located at: __________________________, to receive my personal data about education from a third party - a university ( name of higher education institution) ___________________________________ , located at: ______________________________________________, through a written request. Obtaining personal data is carried out in order to confirm the validity of issuing me a diploma of higher education. The rights granted in connection with the processing of my personal data have been explained to me. The consent is valid for six months from the date of its issue. Full name, signature Date |
Reference
Not all educational institutions, especially private ones, are willing to meet employers halfway and provide this kind of information, but the university is obliged to confirm the authenticity of the diploma when the graduate himself applies to the alma mater. If verification is in the interests of the person being verified, the procedure can be accelerated by asking the potential employee to present an official certificate certified by the rector.
University website
Most higher educational institutions create their own online database of graduates, through which you can almost always “check” educational documents by finding the corresponding section on the university website, where it is easy to check the authenticity of the diploma number. If the document was actually issued, then information about its owner is displayed: last name, first name, patronymic, terms of study, faculty, etc.
On the official website of St. Petersburg University, in the “SPbU Diploma” subsection of the “For Employers” block, this can be done using a QR code, which has been included in all of its diplomas since 2017.
Online, employers can not only check the authenticity of a diploma, but also learn about the applicant’s achievements during his studies.
If there is no information on university websites, this does not mean that the graduate is fake: errors are possible due to the imperfection of the electronic system, but often this is evidence that university graduation documents were not issued or were obtained illegally, in other words, purchased at a reasonable price .
Alternative Methods
All of them are akin to the methods of work of a private investigator or an experienced fortune teller, but can bring more or less revealing results when the diploma number is unknown.
Social network
The data indicated in the candidate’s profile, of course, is not a 100% guarantee of the authenticity of his diploma, but only an indirect argument in favor. Active users of social networks are aware that the next step of the HR manager after getting acquainted with the resume is to study the applicant’s page on VKontakte, Facebook, Odnoklassniki, etc., therefore they can enter information into the virtual application form corresponding to the information contained in the fake diploma
A list of friends is more suitable as confirmation: if it contains many graduates of the same university whose diploma the candidate presented, most likely he really graduated from it. But again, this is not a fact: this does not prove that the applicant successfully completed his studies, and was not expelled, say, from his final year, without having defended himself. Such an epic failure does not at all prevent him from maintaining good relationships with ex-classmates or former classmates.
Conversation
Requires certain preparation from the interviewer. First, you need to collect information about the faculty, teachers, and the intricacies of the training procedure in order to be able to compare it with the answers of the future employee to questions about the university, which are asked solely for the purpose of verifying the authenticity of the diploma, and not to support highly intellectual small talk. A student who has honestly and diligently studied for a bachelor’s degree for at least four years knows the institute inside and out and will answer the most tricky questions without hesitation.
Another non-standard option to determine the authenticity of a diploma is to talk (not necessarily in person, you can also by phone) with the methodologist of the department or faculty, asking him to give an oral description of the graduate or to obtain consent to send a written one in the near future. If such a student is not remembered and is not found on the lists, this is a serious reason to doubt and think, was there a boy?
If concerns are serious, it is better to resort to more reliable methods: an official request, verification of a diploma by number in the state registry, or an email to Rosobrnadzor.
But even the most effective method will not help confirm the authenticity of a higher education diploma issued to a graduate of departmental universities - institutes, universities and academies of the federal security, security, and foreign intelligence services. In other cases, accessible and free ways to check the authenticity of a diploma guarantee almost one hundred percent success.