Accept the documents, or reject the documents and inform the applicant of next steps

 Accept or reject the documents. For rejected documents, inform the applicant of next steps.

• Accept documents that meet your organization’s standards of authenticity, and proceed to the next step of assessment.
• Reject documents confirmed to be fraudulent, and follow your organization’s fraud policies and procedures, such as:
  • documenting the evidence, such as the confirmation received from the educational institution or trusted verification source;
  • updating the status of the application;
  • informing the applicant of the decision, providing additional information on the appeal process, and reiterating your organization’s fraud policies set out in the terms of the assessment service, including the following:
    • the assessment will not be completed if a document is found to be fraudulent, even if the application package includes other educational documents;
    • the documents confirmed to be fraudulent will be retained by your organization (if applicable);
    • your organization will notify the designated third-party user of the assessment (if applicable);
    • your organization will not accept a new application from the applicant for a specified period;
  • designating the file as a precedent and noting any trends in fraudulent practices in the context of the institution or education system (if applicable);
  • sharing information about the confirmed fraud, such as with the designated third-party user of the assessment, subject to the terms of the assessment service and applicable legislation on personal information protection and privacy.

• Decide to accept or reject documents that show signs of inconsistencies but cannot be confirmed as fraudulent:
  • document facts and analysis leading to the decision to accept or reject;
  • check precedents to ensure a consistent approach;
  • if documents are accepted, proceed to step 4;
  • if documents are rejected, update the status of the application, inform the applicant of the decision, and provide additional information on the appeal process;
  • mark the rejected documents as not acceptable or inconclusive rather than fraudulent.

In the process:

• maintain and update your organization’s information system about verification and fraud detection, ensuring that it includes:
  • basic elements of educational documents and common signs of fraud;
  • samples of genuine and fraudulent documents for the same or similar academic credentials;
  • contextual information on fraud trends and cases, which can be readily retrieved and compared;
  • verification processes, including those using new technologies such as digital documents with a secure link to an official database or trusted document-exchange network and verification platform;
  • fraud policies and procedures to ensure consistency and fairness of outcomes.

• Consult other external resources. CICIC’s tool box can support your research process and provide a space to consult with other members of the pan-Canadian academic credential assessment community.