Employers have been urged to check vocational MBO diplomas more closely for forgeries.

The MBO Council issued the warning after detecting an increase in fake diplomas, particularly in the care and installation technology sectors, AD reported.

The council said it is receiving reports from schools who have been approached by suspicious employers asking whether a diploma is genuine. The forgeries, which can be bought on the internet, are sometimes virtually indistinguishable from the real thing.

‘It may be that a person presenting a fake diploma went to the school but trained for an entirely different job, or never went to the school at all,’ chairman of the MBO Raad, Ton Heerts, told the paper.

Heerts said fake diplomas are particularly prevalent in sectors with staff shortages.

Employers who suspect they are being shown a fake diploma are advised to ask for a DUO digital extract of the diploma as proof of authenticity. Anyone caught presenting a fake diploma can be charged with documentary fraud.