Brits who lie on their CV about achievements may not end up with their dream job - but a one-way ticket to jail instead.
Job hunters sprinkling the odd porkie throughout their CV may think it's no big deal to fiddle the odd detail to get ahead in the recruitment race.
But by doing just this, legal experts say they could be committing a crime and instead of landing the role of their dreams, may instead be starting their first day in prison.
UK fraud prevention service Cifas conducted research earlier this year examining people's attitudes to fibbing on CVs.
It revealed almost one-fifth (18%) of UK people have lied on their CVs and job applications in order to land a role, or know someone who has.
Its Fraud Behaviours Survey shows falsifying CV qualifications and supplying false information on a job application was the second 'most common' type of first-party fraud.
In addition, one in seven of those quizzed (14%) felt it was 'reasonable' to say they'd achieved a 2:1 degree to secure a job, when they'd actually failed their final year of university.
The Fraud Act 2006 states that a person is in breach of this section if they 'dishonestly makes a false representation' with the intention of 'making a gain for himself or another' or 'to cause loss to another or to expose another to a risk of loss'.
Rachael Tiffen, Director of Learning and Public Sector at Cifas, said: "First-party fraud is not a trivial offence - it erodes trust and carries significant consequences for those involved, including potential criminal charges and the risk of damaging future career prospects.
"When someone falsifies a CV to land a job, they won't stand out in a positive way.
"Instead they may be viewed as an 'insider threat' - someone who demonstrates dishonesty, raising concerns about their potential to continue deceiving others in the workplace.
"Dishonest staff not only pose a risk to employers but they also endanger customers, colleagues, and wider stakeholders.
"To protect themselves, organisations should implement thorough checks across the whole employee lifecycle to identify and mitigate any fraud risks."
One of Britain's biggest recruiters Reed states that they, and many other established recruiters, complete full reference checks as standard practice.
Head of Reed Screening, Keith Rosser, said: "People may think that changing one or two of your exam grades is a small white lie - it isn't, it's fraud and brings your entire application into disrepute."
Ruth Peters, business development director at Olliers Solicitors, points out that someone could be found guilty of fraud, even if they don't get the job.
Ruth said: "For a person to be guilty of this offence, they would need to have been dishonest as opposed to making a genuine mistake.
"Generally speaking, lying on a CV would be considered dishonest as the test is what would be considered as such by the ordinary standards of reasonable and honest people - and it's clear that it is intentional.
"In addition, the intention must be to make a gain and obtaining employment would certainly fit this criteria.
"No gain actually needs to be made and, therefore, a person could be guilty of this offence even if they did not actually successfully get the position through the lie."
The penalty for the offence is a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Deciding on the level of sentence, the court would need to take into account the level of deception, any gain made and the harm caused as a result of the deception.
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