To ask for help with possible qualification fraud?

[Shambu]

I've discovered a relation of a close family member is promoting himself to his clients as having an Hons degree he does not have.

I've known him for 20 years, and his qualification was a much lower status one which he didn't finish.

It is featured on his email on all communication with clients.

How would I find out? I contacted the institution to find out if they offered that course at the time, but I cannot make a request for specific information without his being informed.

This would bother me. If he has been sued several times, it could happen again and it could all come out in court if someone thinks to do a bit of digging into his background. Your sister could have to deal with massive consequences because of this deception. Does she know? If so, what does she think about it?
To be honest, I don't know what I'd do, but I totally understand (as someone who regularly pays for some of the kinds of specialist advice mentioned upthread, and who could be really harmed by wrong advice) why you are concerned about this.

How do you know he's been sued several times?

it's not the sort of thing people say when they meet one another, is it?

As it's a 'relative' of your sister, why would you interfere and not leave it to her?

Are you planning on reporting it? What impact will it have on her?

Is it 'just' morally wrong or will it cause substantial harm to their clients?

Ah, I was assuming this is her husband, now I see that this hasn't explicitly been said. That would make a difference, I think, if the sister wouldn't be materially affected by the fallout of him being found out.

It is possible to be working within a degree level profession without a degree if you qualified several years ago - nursing was not always a degree level, and neither was teaching.

So if I knew for sure, I'd advise her to tell him to remove the reference from his communication.

You don’t need to know for sure to impart this information

Why don't you just ask him then?

This is really weird. You sound really controlling, you are the dictator to determine his life.

And presumably he wasn’t successfully sued if he’s continued to practice?

You don't automatically lose your ability to continue in your job just because you've been sued. That's what professional indemnity insurance is for.

Unless you have reason to believe hes not doing his job correctly then I think you are being unreasonable TBH. If he has been successful for 20 odd years it surely doesnt matter?. Many people dont have a degree but are still good in Business, or have a different degree than the job they have.Why are you worried about it now ?

He is probably self-employed, therefore no employer to report to.

I could set myself up tomorrow as, for example, a planning consultant. I could claim that I have an honours degree in Architecture and 10 years' work experience in the building industry. I could say that I can advise on all aspects of planning permission, building regulations and permitted development.

I have none of that. Previous posters are right that there is a list of protected job titles - you can't legally claim to be a doctor or nurse if you aren't.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_qualifications_in_the_United_Kingdom

But in my example I'm not claiming to be an Architect. I'm saying that I'm a planning consultant, with an Architecture degree.

The other avenue OP is trading standards. They are interested in issues around false representation.

And for those saying everyone lies and you won't get caught - more employers are adding fact checking into their pre-employment screening. Especially when the degree or other qualification you are claiming is critical to the role.

to the pp, he wouldn’t have been able to register with the HCPC simply by saying he has a degree in his profession. They are very well aware of attempted fake applications, fake degrees etc

I am guessing this is more financial related.

If he's pretending to be a solicitor then you need to notify the solicitors regulation authority (SRA). They will look into it. But I suspect it isn't that since we don't tend to put details of our degrees on our email signatures.

@AppropriateAdult

Yes PI exactly for this situation
For him to have secured PI - he would have had to have shown the insurer his qualifications.

Plus - Op says sued several times. If ever successfully sued, very very difficult to get PI coverage again.

If hes lying then it's unfair if his clients choose him based on supposed qualifications. Surely there would be some sort of profile on his page which shows where he studied and when he got his degree.

What's your true motivation here OP? Do you want him to get in trouble or at least be fired from his job? Does your Dsis want this? Or are you worried about the fallout for your Dsis if he is discovered in his lie? Do you want to confront him or have your Dsis confront him with proof that he's lying to get him to stop? What's the game plan here?

“It's not just medical issues. Someone giving financial advice saying they've got an Honours degree in Economics when in fact they failed Mathss GCSE. Someone offering to do your tax return based on a fake Accounting degree. Someone saying they have a Law degree and offering legal advice. Someone working as a "planning consultant" giving you expertise on current building regs because they're claiming expertise in construction or quantity surveying.

Exactly. It is covered by one of those examples”.

OP, if it is covered by one of the above examples is he also faking his profession, for example calling himself a solicitor or accountant when he has not completed the post graduate professional qualifications to be legally qualified. If so that is completely different.

When people pay good money to a lawyer or other professional, they expect the professional to be qualified to give accurate advice.

and what would you do with this information?

let it be op

Wrt being sued -

By way of an example in a different profession - a woman was recently discovered to have been practicing for 22 years as a psychiatrist with no medical degree.

She had been investigated for some questionable decisions along the way afair but no-one had questioned her qualifications.

Would your DSis not be aware already?

If’s it financial you don’t need any qualifications to set up an accountant/tax agent to deal with HMRC on behalf of clients.

Ah, I was assuming this is her husband

You are correct. I thought posters would be able to read between the lines without posting something too outing in the OP.

To whoever asked - I'm worried about the fall out for my sister if he's discovered.

If’s it financial you don’t need any qualifications to set up an accountant/tax agent to deal with HMRC on behalf of clients.

Exactly. It's the difference between saying "I'm an accountant" and "I offer a range of accounting and tax advisory services".

OP what do suspect has happened: that he's claimed a fake qualification and nobody's checked, or that he's been asked to provide a degree certificate and has faked one?

It's instant dismissal for gross misconduct if he's found out either way. Agree that your sister must know the truth, is she aware of the consequences of being discovered in his lie?

This impacts my sister directly ... So if I knew for sure, I'd advise her to tell him to remove the reference from his communication

Is it possible to say how you found out about this without outing yourself? It's just that I'm surprised your sister doesn't already know, if this is someone close to her

The three "hearings" might not have gone into his qualifications, but in that situation I think I'd have done some digging on my own account, especially if the impact was likely to be considerable

tell him you are concerned, see if he will remove it. Or tell your sister - if he lies professionally is he also lying to her. After that not your problem.