Fraud warning – Ghost workers

The Invoice Finance Sector has seen a significant increase in cases of fraud and ghost workers. This typically involves a fraudulent company approaching a legitimate recruitment company and requesting that they put workers on the payroll who aren’t legitimate.

What are ghost workers and how can they have an impact?

• A fraudulent company provides their own ‘preferred’ workers for placement. Contact is usually online and never face to face.
• The recruitment company will then place these workers in employment for their customer.
• The recruitment company pays these workers their wages, as per the normal process.
• The fraudulent company will then disappear, leaving the recruitment company with a debt that must be written off.
• The fraudsters control the bank accounts where the wages are paid, and funds are removed immediately.
• In one case, four workers living in different parts of the country all had bank accounts at the same branch with sequential account numbers. A significant marker for fraud.

It’s the Director’s and owner’s responsibility to ensure they know their clients. If this fraud occurs, your debt insurance will not cover it. You will be liable to pay us in full. You must have suitable and appropriate procedures in place to prevent any fraud happening. Basic rules, such as meeting all your clients and temporary workers, are fundamental and part of the Agency Code of Practice (REC Code of Practice).