The Eurozone is in crisis, banks and financial services firms have laid off thousands globally and new opportunities are few and far between. In such circumstances it’s tempting to stretch the truth on your CV, but recruiters have one clear message to job-seekers in the Gulf – you will be found out.

Financial services firms are reporting an increase in CV fraud; largely from expats applying from outside the region. Figures from pre-employment screening firm HireRight suggest that 36% of financial services professionals securing a new role in EMEA last year has “some sort of discrepancy” on their CV. In the Middle East, this figure is closer to 40-45%, suggest recruiters.

“Redundancies have been commonplace in Western financial services markets, and new opportunities are hard to come by,” says Matthew Lewis, director at Boyden Middle East. “We’re seeing people from European markets – particularly Ireland, Spain, and Greece – obviously exaggerating skills and experience on their CV. This is partly borne out of desperation, but people aren’t considering the consequences.”

The consequences are not just losing your job and denting your reputation, but being thrown out of the country entirely.

Never assume fake educational details won’t be checked

It’s common, particularly among more experienced financial services professionals, to lie about their educational qualifications. Often, this can be upping their degree classification, or putting a university name on their CV when a qualification was never obtained.

Tim Rooney, commercial director at Experian Consumer Information Services, says that these qualifications have been on some CVs for so long, people assume they’ll never be checked up upon.

However, some job applicants go further.

Shane Phillips, MENA regional practice leader, financial and professional services at Stanton Chase, says: “There’s a big problem, particularly from expat applicants, of people stating that they have degrees from fake universities. Often, these can sound very similar to real colleges, but a little investigation reveals that these are online universities and the degrees have been paid for.”

These will obviously be uncovered quickly, but Phillips describes one occasion where an applicant had found someone with the same name as them on the website of a top university…and simply lifted the qualification. Even here, however, they were found out eventually.

Be upfront about the reasons behind any employment gaps

Redundancy is no longer a dirty word – with so many job losses, it pays to be honest if you fell victim to a cost-cutting initiative. However, sometimes people leave for other reasons – perhaps your relationship soured with your manager, you made the wrong career move and decided to backtrack or you were fired. Even here, it’s best to be upfront.

Morgan Stanley’s co-head of investment banking, Klaus Froelich, told us he often ends interviews if he thinks a candidate is lying to him and recruiters prefer to be told about any potential landmines at the outset.

“During interview, we get a feel for candidates and if something on the CV raises a red flag, we dig deeper,” says Lewis. “If someone has stretched the length of employment, or job-hopped too often, we’d check with their previous employers – outside of the stated references – to find out the reasons behind this.”

Highlight your achievements, but make don’t state anything you can’t back up

In wealth management, corporate banking or sales roles, it’s tempting to over-egg your client relationships. After all, this is one of the primary reasons why any potential employer will speak to you, and – even though interviews will dig more information – it’s difficult to verify.

Employers want people who have close enough ties with clients to bring them with them to any new job. If this doesn’t materialise when you secure a new role, it’s unlikely you’ll last long.

In M&A, it’s common for candidates to highlight any deals they’ve been involved with, even if their actual involvement was minimal. You’ll be found out.

“One example is when we’ve encountered someone working in M&A with a very impressive deal list, who claimed to have been instrumental in the transactions, but on further investigation it turned out they only had a very administrative role,” says Dan Shoemaker, senior managing director at HireRight. “This is something that’s not easy to check, particularly at the more junior end.”

If you’re lucky, you could dupe recruiters, but this will be checked out before you secure the job.