Fraudulent construction scheme cards

Construction scheme card fraud is a serious issue for the industry. We work closely with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to gather evidence to prosecute fraudulent behaviour and bring criminals to account. We are also committed to preventing fraud.

How to tell a fraudulent card

There are usually a number of security features built into a construction scheme card.

In a genuine CSCS card, it will have:

• a CSCS hologram in the top left-hand corner
  • if you move the card slightly you will see the words ‘Construction Skill Certification Scheme’ in the reflective part
• a photo of the person on the right hand side of the card
  • the photo should have a good likeness of the person before you
• the card holder's name printed below the CSCS hologram
• the card holder's registration number printed below their name along with the card’s expiry date.
• the registration number is repeated on the back of the card
• a small silver ‘HS&E Tested’ logo in a silver coloured box next to the ID photo or a gold coloured ‘HS&E Tested’ logo in a gold coloured box next to the ID photo
• the card colour going right to the edge of the card
  • some forgeries have what appears to be a white edge to the front of the card
• printing and colours which are sharp and clear
  • many forgeries have spelling mistakes or blurred or dull printing.

To find out more about how to tell a genuine CSCS card from a fraudulent one, visit the CSCS website.

Alternatively, use our online Card Checker - if it is a genuine card, you should be able to find it on the system.

What to do with a possible fraudulent card

If you suspect a worker of using a fraudulent card to work or enter a construction site:

• Retain the card if possible
• Make photocopies of front and back
• Record cardholder’s name and address if possible
• Ask cardholder where the card was obtained from
• Contact the local police and report the matter*
• Refuse access to site (subject to company rules)
• Forward copies of all evidence to:
  
  The Operations Team
  CSCS Ltd
  26 Store Street
  London WC1E 7BT marked “SUSPECTED FRAUDULENT CARD”
  
  
• Or please email full details to CITB, making sure to include copies of all evidence

* Please note: Contacting the police is at the discretion of each individual site and subject to company rules. CSCS and CITB always recommend contacting the police as this information can be helpful to the authorities when tackling issues such as modern day slavery, people trafficking and right to work investigations.

Other fraudulent activity

We are also committed to minimising fraudulent activity in the delivery of the Site Safety Plus (SSP) suite of courses. This includes the unauthorised publication of SSP course assessment answers test answers for the use in end of course assessments.

Where we find published papers on the internet, we will seek to remove them and take legal action against the publishers.

The purchase and use of these papers as a training/revision aid is not supported by CITB and using them could result in revising the wrong information and failing the test.

The use of this material may be viewed as cheating and any CSCS card being issued as a result being revoked.

Should you be approached or made aware of web pages offering this service, please email full details to CITB where we shall investigate further.