Oct 06, 2026 4 min read

The Identity Layer Is Being Sold Around You

July 2025 — Socure, an enterprise identity infrastructure and biometrics company, launched Workforce Verification, bringing identity proofing capabilities to workforce screening and hiring.

March 2026 — Persona launched Candidate Verification with native integrations into Greenhouse, Ashby and Workday, going directly to talent acquisition teams.

March 2026 — Checkr launched an identity verification solution integrating Socure biometric identification with liveness detection and document forensics into their background checks.

Employers and talent acquisition teams can purchase identity verification directly from identity providers to mitigate identity fraud. CRAs face an important decision: should identity verification be offered as part of the screening process, and how should it be offered?

Accuracy: the report is only as good as the identity

Consumer Reporting Agencies have processes that minimize human error. Adherence to FCRA compliant processes is critical to a CRA's Duty of Maximum Possible Accuracy.

But how accurate is the final report when identity has not been verified and an individual has been hired using someone else's identity? Searches on a stolen identity are perfectly conducted and may be 100% accurate. However, a clean report is a false positive, as the searches were not conducted on the actual person being hired.

Alicia Flanagan is serving 73 months in prison for using the name and active nursing license of a Virginia nurse to work in Arkansas at two facilities. Flanagan passed her background checks because they were accurate. Her victim's NCLEX score and nursing license were valid.

Carleen Noreus pleaded guilty in Operation Nightingale, where she made about 2,600 fraudulent nursing diplomas using fake South Florida schools. Some of those diploma buyers passed their NCLEX, received valid licenses and passed background checks.

Cost: searches you can't recoup

If the candidate's identity has not been validated, CRAs waste money conducting county criminal record checks, license verifications, reference checks, employment verifications, education verifications and drug screens. CRAs will not be able to recoup those expenses. Adjudication of the results and issuing a report also wastes staff time and increases turnaround times.

Candidates that lie about their identity at the front end of the hiring process waste a CRA's time and money. Identity verification prevents CRAs from wasting time, energy, and money conducting a background check that may be rendered moot because identity has not been verified. Socure Workforce Verification data indicates identity verification prevents CRAs from wasting time and money by stopping more than 70% of bad actors before additional steps are taken.

Candidates with mismatched identities cause disputes. Disputes waste a CRA's time and money with no offsetting revenue. Identity verification at the front end of the hiring process mitigates mismatches and reduces dispute volume.

What the industry is saying

What do you wish employers understood about the difference between a background check and identity verification?

One participant responded:

I wish more clients understood that identity verification is different than a background check and the value it brings to mitigate identity theft/fraud... We do identity verification, we also provide a solution that prevents fraudulent documents. We do NOT perform credential verification... Our solution validates the person and ties them to their government issued ID via biometrics and liveness detection... The Wallet is theirs and stays with them. With one click they can provide us with the Wallet and we are ready to perform their next screening. We love it for renewals too!!

Another participant answered:

It's an additional layer of protection against fraud and identity theft. Identity verification confirms the individual is who they say they are. Background checks can't do that.

Employers are recognizing identity verification adds another layer of protection against fraudulent candidates. CRAs who incorporate identity verification in their screening process will be viewed favorably as an added service. In addition, CRAs that mitigate fraudulent candidates will reduce costs and disputes.

Build or partner?

CRAs are seeing competitors launching identity verification as a service. CRAs are faced with a choice: build and sell identity verification, or partner with an identity verification company to incorporate it into the hiring process? CRAs are not identity verification experts and must weigh the pros and cons of adding this critical service to the hiring process.

Cerebrum partners with CRAs to incorporate identity verification at the beginning of the hiring process. Our solution integrates into your current processes. Our technology can be integrated into your platforms like MeridianLink TazWorks, or our APIs connect to third party applications. We can be added to your websites as well.

We do not compete with CRAs by conducting background checks. We don't sell identity verification to your customers. Our goal is to offer CRAs a partner with the latest identity verification technology to incorporate into your workflow.

The scale of the problem

Employers recognize identity theft and fraud is a serious issue. It impacts all industries: healthcare, finance, government, manufacturing, transportation, you name it. Recent statistics show identity theft and fraud has a negative impact on employers and companies:

A 2025 Checkr study reveals 41% of IT, Cybersecurity, Risk & Fraud professionals have hired or onboarded a fraudulent candidate.
North Korean IT Worker prosecutions revealed 479 companies fell for the ruse of hiring North Korean IT workers.
A July 2026 LexisNexis Risk Solutions study reveals AI-generated deepfake photos, documents and liveness detection videos were found in about one in every 100 failed identity proofing attempts.

How Cerebrum works with CRAs

Cerebrum is a technology company providing identity verification to CRAs to verify identities before searches are conducted. Our partners receive identity verification reports including a candidate's verified identity information, which can be leveraged by our Synapse technology for automated compliance and background check processes. Our 26 screening company partners receive identity verification from Cerebrum to mitigate fraudulent candidates.

Cerebrum offers CRAs a solution that does not compete with a CRA's business model. Our solution validates identities using a multi-layered approach that incorporates biometrics, liveness detection and document forensics. Our partners receive a detailed identity verification report which reduces mismatches, saves money by not performing a moot background check, reduces dispute volume and mitigates fraudulent candidates. Our technology integrates into CRAs' current hiring process, saving time and energy.

Cerebrum vID validates a candidate's government issued identification at the front end of the hiring process, before searches are conducted. It can be offered as a stand-alone solution or integrated into CRAs' background check products.

After verification, we issue a wallet that belongs to the candidate. The Cerebrum Wallet is a portable credential that stores their government-issued identification, verified identity, biometric match, liveness detection result and more. Candidates share their Cerebrum Wallet with our partners, who use our Synapse technology to streamline hiring processes and minimize fraudulent candidates.

Identity verification is critical to mitigate fraudulent candidates. Partner with Cerebrum for cutting-edge identity verification to protect your customers and your brand. Stop fraudulent candidates before searches are conducted.