Last year and this year, there have been around 60 reports of fake education certificates being sold via social media. But the number in the dark is large, according to the police.
The way in which fake education certificates are sold and provided is constantly evolving, shows an investigation that SVT Nyheter has done.
Under a false name, we got in touch with a seller who describes how he himself got a job with a certificate bought via Snapchat:
– I thought shit, I’m going to buy it, so I hired a social worker and I’ve worked with him and they’ve raised my salary and everything, says the seller in an audio recording.
Protected professional title
It is the employer who has the ultimate responsibility and if an employment is made on false grounds, it can have serious consequences, not least with regard to professional groups such as nurses, according to the union.
– The vocational training ensures a level of competence that also ensures patient safety. If you then do not have the adequate training for the profession, patient safety will also suffer, says Ann Georgsson, federal ombudsman at the Municipal Workers’ Union.
The seller with whom SVT Nyheter has contacted states that the certificate is issued with a watermark from a now closed school, to make possible checks more difficult. It is just an example of how fraudsters adapt to prevailing conditions, according to the police.
Big dark speech
– This is organized sales, you feed on this type of business so it will continue, you need to continue to have income, says Charlotta Mauritzon, at the police’s National Fraud Center.
She further believes that there is a large underreporting, as many companies and businesses that have been exposed to fraud do not report it.
– Even Svenskt Näringsliv’s own survey shows that 50-60 percent of companies do not report crimes they have been exposed to. And these are crimes that you don’t even notice you’ve been exposed to, says Charlotta Mauritzon.