Claiming degrees you dont have

[51daystoChristmas]

Hi, I have a colleague who is claiming to have degrees she doesnt have. She has two degrees on her email signature that don't match the ones on our company CVs that go out to third parties which is what led me to noticing. So I did a bit of checking and on LinkedIn she has a completely different degree listed, with the university name. So I emailed the university which is in Australia, that information is on public record there, and they confirmed that degree and date. She works on winning business for the company so I think any sort of fraud would be really bad for the company, she's worked here for 10 years though. She has recently been promoted, and is good at her job. I'm in a different team and it makes no difference to me, I was just wondering if I should let anyone know as they've just won a really public facing project. What do you think?

I used to lie about my GCSE results on my CV. I’ve taken them off completely now.

It's wrong if it's true but since she's openly stated it in her work emails and the only one you've checked was correct it sounds more like you've misunderstood. I've got two postgraduate degrees that I rarely mention at work because we only need an undergrad degree and I'm in a junior role. If I got promoted maybe I would add them on but I feel silly putting Dr after my name like the more senior staff do when I'm junior admin. Perhaps she only felt she could mention them once she got promoted. It doesn't mean she didn't do them. It's also standard advice to tailor things to the context so I can see why she might have other things on other profiles. I re-phrase the wording of one of my degrees depending on the context as it means both but makes more sense in one way or another depending on context. Also I got married and changed my name so my degrees are in a different name too.

If you've really uncovered fraud people would agree with you but it's sounds more likely it will backfire on you.

What outcome would you like to see? Because that's really what this comes down to. You think she is not deserving of her position, even if she's good at it. So do you want her to be fired? Should she be charged with a crime? Deported?

If you have a complaint, it's essential to have a clear idea of what you would consider to be a suitable resolution. What changing the credentials on her email signature be sufficient, or do you wish for a disciplinary action to be taken?

"Hello, is that HR? I've discovered a fraudster on a multi-million pound project".

I can't believe some of the responses on here. OP you are completely right to want to raise this as it could have repercussions for your company. I would suggest that instead of HR you report confidentially to your Ethics hotline.

I’m enjoying how the OP has seemed to inflate the stakes over the course of the thread when nobody seemed to be sharing her outrage or patting her approvingly on the back for investigating. Now the Lying Liar works on a project that is not only public-facing, but multi-million and ‘controversial’. By the end of the day, she’ll have revealed that the details she changed included sex and workplace type, and that in fact it’s Keir Starmer who turns out to only have a 2.2 in Fashion Merchandising from an Australian university, and no wonder the country is going to the dogs etc etc.

This is something you speak to your manager about, not post about on here. It’s ironic because you’re gossiping about her unprofessional behaviour on here, when you’re likely in breach of your workplace policies by posting this information online to begin with.

I would also add that you might not be aware of the full facts.

I’m in my 20s and got my first degree in 2020. I’m currently taking my second degree in another area. So both degrees are genuine and real but I have a valid reason to flex between both. For me, it was just easier to get into the university I would like for post grad with a dedicated degree as the subject matters are so different. Think sociology vs maths, where the sociology isn’t relevant for post grad maths.

I have more than one degree and I don’t know why anyone but HR would know what I have. In fact HR don’t know about 1 of them because it’s not necessary for my job and I completed it while I’ve been working here. So either ask her or report to HR. Then if it’s important, they can check it out. But you won’t get to hear the outcome as presumably the information is private and for HR and senior management to be happy with.

😂

You may be correct that her degree isn't the truth...but how you've got this information is absolutely bizarre to me. You've taken a strange interest in this woman. If the people who hired her didn't notice this, Unless she is in a surgeon and likely to take out the wrong organ or something on that scale - leave it to the company themselves to spot this.

What a busy body you are. Shes been doing the job for ten years did you say and obviously doing it successfully. Mind your own business! Can't believe you've been snooping around LinkedIn and emailing Australian unis.

I only think this matters if it’s a legally required qualification.

If it’s not then leave it as it’s HR’s job to check on these things, not yours. And if they haven’t after ten years of working there then what on earth has it got to do with you?

It will look very bad for you if you state that you've gone off and emailed a university asking to look in to someone's degree. By all means, go tell on her, but it will ultimately reflect badly on you also.

Ethics hotline? what?

We recently sacked someone for fraud for something similar. He claimed that he had worked at a specific institution in China. Unfortunately for him, the person who was interviewing him for the internal job had actually worked there, and during the dates he stated. If he had worked there, she would have been his boss. Having discovered this, they scratched the surface a bit more and found out that he hadn’t done his Masters at Oxford either. He’d also
lied about doing an internship at an international organisation as well.

This is a weird ass take. Is it you faking your qualifications lol

In our team someone getting found out doing similar would be a ding on the reputation of the whole team

I get the uncomfortable feeling that potential big lies can make have. You ask yourself "If this is the kind of person they might be, what else might they be capable of"
But as folks have said, you haven't got any strong proof, just suspicions, and you're not really in the right position to have any reason to dig any deeper.

If an individual in a company is lying, it can reflect badly on the company, but is this situation really going to result in any kind of significant loss to it? If it's not, why go any further?

Are degrees a legal requirement for the role that she's holding? If it is, then raise your suspicions with the right person, but otherwise, holding back may be the way forward.

I would ask you, that if you would not directly ask her about it herself, or feel it's right to pass it onto the company, why raise the subject here?

Just curious, this recent promotion - did you apply for it but weren't sucessful by any chance?

OP: Should I do something about this?
MN: No
OP: you are all wrong.

It’s like Crimestoppers, but for workplace dodginess. You phone up, don’t give a name and hiss ‘Janine from Accounts only got a 2.2!’ Or ‘Dave from Comms steals toilet paper!’

😀

Yes but they had their facts and did their diligent research. OP doesn’t have facts just suspicion, it was her HR’s job to do the background work.

Absolutely OP, you need to contact the university of the other degree that they claim to have, verify from them that they do or don't have, and then come back to us!
As you have been told and seemingly not digested, many of us have multiple degrees, and pick and choose when to mention it depending on relevance. Chances are you go to HR with your half hand of cards, make these accusations, irritate everyone and you're completely wrong.

It seems OTT for you to snoop so deeply. I mean she works in business development/customer acquisition and frankly you can be incredibly talented at that without possessing any degree at all.

She's not even a member of your team.

If she's good at her job and has a degree of some description (if that's what's strictly legally required for the role) then why do you care?

Or it seems OP: you are all wrong, I already have.