Every reference runs through layered fraud signals — device intelligence, submission analysis, identity checks and employer verification — so a glowing reference from a fake referee never becomes a hire.
Overview
Fake references are the easiest fraud in hiring: a mate posing as a former manager, a candidate answering their own reference from a second email address, or a "company" that has never existed. Phone checks rarely catch any of it — and a fabricated glowing reference is worse than no reference at all.
Refchecks runs eighteen distinct fraud signals across every reference, silently, as it happens. Device intelligence notices when one device completes multiple "different" referees. Submission analysis reads the choreography — links opened seconds after the candidate shares them, answers pasted rather than typed, several referees responding in the same window. Referee details are checked against the candidate's, against each other, and against previous requests. Employers are verified against the Australian Business Register, and every check is cross-referenced against our verification database using one-way hashes — no personal data is ever shared between organisations.
Weak signals are weighed together, not in isolation: one personal email address means little, but a personal email plus a shared device plus rubber-stamp ratings tells a story. When the composite score crosses a threshold you get a calm alert and a plain-language risk assessment in the report — evidence for your judgement, never an automatic rejection.
What's Included
Spots one device or network completing multiple "different" references — the classic signature of a candidate answering as their own referees.
Reads how a reference was completed, not just what it says: links opened suspiciously fast, answers pasted rather than typed, implausible completion speed, and referees responding in coordinated windows.
Referee details are compared against the candidate's contact details, against each other, and against referees used in previous requests — catching self-references and recycled referees.
Disposable email services, freshly registered lookalike domains and invalid company domains are flagged before a reference is even completed.
The employer named on a reference is checked against the Australian Business Register — a reference from a company that does not exist is worth knowing about.
Every verification is cross-referenced against our growing database using one-way hashed identifiers — if a candidate's history contradicts what referees previously reported, you know before you hire. No personal data is shared between organisations.
Process
As each reference is sent, opened and completed, the fraud stack evaluates it in real time. Referees are never interrupted or accused — the signals come from ordinary interaction metadata.
Individual quirks are common and mostly innocent. Composite scoring looks for patterns — several weak signals pointing the same way — before anything is flagged.
A flagged reference triggers a notification and a plain-language risk assessment in the report explaining exactly what was detected and why it matters.
Fraud signals are evidence, not verdicts. Nothing is auto-rejected — you see the findings alongside the reference itself and make the call.
Turnaround & Pricing
Turnaround Time
Real time — signals are evaluated as each reference is submitted.
Included in all plans
No extra cost
Every reference check runs the full fraud stack automatically.
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