Fraud Detection

Automatically screen high-scoring candidates for resume fraud with multi-layered AI analysis validated against a real-world benchmark.

Nova automatically analyzes top candidates for resume fraud. Results post to your ATS as a note and tag, and appear on the Fraud Detection dashboard. It only runs on candidates at or above your configured score threshold, so fraud screening targets the candidates your recruiters will actually review.

Contact your account manager to enable fraud detection.

How It Works

1. Nova scores the candidate

   Normal scoring against your criteria.

2. High scorers get fraud analysis

   Candidates at or above your threshold (default: 7/10) get a separate fraud analysis combining text analysis with external validation signals.

3. Results post to your ATS

   A fraud risk assessment posts as a note. Medium or high risk candidates get tagged (e.g. “Nova: Fraud Risk (High)”) for quick filtering.

What Nova Analyzes

When concerns from different dimensions converge, fraud probability increases. Surface-level issues alone keep risk low.

Dimension	What it checks
Timeline integrity	Overlapping dates, impossible sequences, future-dated roles
Career progression	Seniority jumps that skip expected intermediate levels
Skill credibility	Implausibly broad tech lists, keyword stuffing
Quantitative claims	Repeated large impact numbers without baselines
Document metadata	Suspicious PDF creation tools, assembly artifacts
Hidden content	Invisible text via tiny fonts, overlapping duplicate layers
Email verification	Deliverability, account age, breach history
LinkedIn validation	Profile completeness, activity, identity coherence, timeline consistency
Cross-candidate detection	Same email, phone, or LinkedIn across multiple applications (excludes reapplications)
AI generation patterns	Uniform templates with zero authentic workplace detail

Nova distinguishes between normal resume polish and pervasive patterns suggesting fabrication. A few metrics-driven bullet points aren’t suspicious. An entire resume with no project names, team names, or workplace specifics is a different story.

Reading the Risk Assessment

Each analysis produces a short ATS note:

• Risk: Low, Medium, or High
• Takeaway: One-line summary
• Top reasons (up to 3): Key evidence
• Reassuring signs (optional): Indicators that reduce concern

Risk levels

Risk level	What it means	Recommended action
Low	No meaningful concerns	Proceed normally
Medium	Structural concerns or signal convergence	Verify claims during screening
High	Strong evidence of fabrication from multiple sources	Prioritize verification before advancing

Fraud results are a screening aid, not a final judgment. Always verify through interviews or document checks.

How it looks in your ATS

Ashby

Lever

Pinpoint

Greenhouse

Teamtailor

Benchmark and Accuracy

We validate every change against an internal benchmark of hundreds of real resumes from production pipelines, including confirmed fraud and verified legitimate applications.

Metric	Value
Precision	Over 93%
False alarm rate	Under 4%
High-confidence precision	100% (zero false positives at highest confidence)

The benchmark includes deliberately challenging legitimate resumes: AI-assisted writing, career changers, international candidates, corporate emails.

Why only high scorers are checked

1. These are the candidates your recruiters will review. A 3/10 isn’t progressing regardless.
2. Fraudulent resumes tend to score high. They’re designed to match job requirements closely.

Lower the threshold in settings for broader coverage. Setting it to 0 checks everyone, though this increases cost without typically changing outcomes for low scorers.

Configuring Fraud Detection

Open Fraud Detection in your Nova dashboard and click the settings icon.

Setting	Default
Enable fraud detection	Disabled
Score threshold	7

Dashboard

Section	What it shows
Flagged rate badge	Percentage of screened applications rated medium or high risk
Summary cards	Total assessed, plus high/medium/low counts. Click to filter.
Risk trend chart	Flagged percentage over time
Assessment volume chart	Applications screened per period by risk level
Assessment table	Full list with risk level, verdict, and fraud probability. Click any row for details.

Filter by date range and risk level. Switch granularity between daily, weekly, and monthly.

Risk assessment detail

Click a candidate row to see the full assessment: risk level, probability, summary, red flags with severity and evidence, and metadata.

What happens if fraud detection fails?

It fails gracefully. The candidate’s score and ATS note aren’t affected. Scoring always delivers regardless of fraud detection status.

What should I do when a candidate is flagged?

Use the top reasons as your interview checklist. Most concerns resolve by asking the candidate to walk through specific resume claims.

Can corporate email addresses trigger false positives?

Some corporate mail servers return “undeliverable” for external verification as a security measure. Nova accounts for this, but if you see email flags for corporate addresses, review the other signals.