Use case
Making sure the candidate you interview is the one who shows up
Industry
Staffing / IT Solutions
Size
Top 3 IT staffing & IT solutions firm
Challenge
Kforce places about 17,000 consultants a year, many hired remotely, for major companies that can attract fraudsters. Dedicated teams, protocols, and monitoring were already in place to spot red flags. As tactics like AI impersonation and proxy hiring evolved, Kforce wanted a more efficient, scalable way to confirm every candidate's identity at each stage of hiring.
Solution
Kforce added 1Kosmos as the independent identity verification layer in its fraud prevention program. Every hire completes the same quick, mobile check wherever they are, so recruiting and sales teams can keep candidates moving. Live in 4–6 weeks, it gives audit, legal, and risk teams a full audit trail, with role-based access protecting data.
Protecting clients, consultants, and the hiring process
As a staffing and solutions firm, Kforce supports major companies, the kind of organizations that can attract fraudsters. Kforce sees it as its duty to take every necessary step to protect those clients, its consultants, and the integrity of its hiring process.
"Who we are representing to our customers is the most important thing... our clients trust us to deliver great people - and the people are who we say they are."
Jennifer Cirrito, SVP of Business Operations, Kforce
Fraudsters are smart, and their tactics keep evolving as more hiring happens remotely. They range from proxy interviews and bait-and-switch hires to AI deepfakes that help impostors get through video interviews. The FBI has repeatedly warned that North Korean IT workers use stolen identities to win remote tech jobs.
"It's changing at light speed. What was prevalent a couple months ago versus what's prevalent now is night and day."
Doug Rich, Chief Transformation Officer, Kforce
Kforce aims to stay out front of these tactics and adjust quickly. Established protocols, dedicated teams, and ongoing monitoring were already in place, and Kforce updated them to identify new red flags as they emerged.
Placing about 17,000 consultants a year also brings real process complexity. Each placement moves through several stages and teams, from recruiting to account management to client interviews, often across different locations. Kforce wanted a more efficient, scalable, and streamlined way to confirm it's the same person at every stage.
Finding the missing piece
With strict internal processes and tooling already in place, Kforce needed one more layer: a way to independently confirm that every candidate is who they claim to be.
"We put together some pretty stringent processes and internal technology, but we were missing a piece: independent ID verification. That's how we came across 1Kosmos."
Matt Nelson, Senior Director of Program Management, Kforce
The right partner had to satisfy every team with a stake in the outcome:
Internal audit needed a full audit trail to prove the control works
Security and privacy needed data protection that passed rigorous assessments
Recruiting and sales needed a fast, mobile experience that wouldn't slow down placements
Program management needed to go live in weeks, not months
1Kosmos met all four. Kforce went live in four to six weeks without a large-scale integration, a rollout Nelson describes as "about as close to plug-and-play as we could get."
Today, every Kforce hire completes the same quick, mobile verification, wherever they are in the world. It fits into existing compliance steps, so candidates don't face extra work and recruiters can keep opportunities moving to meet client demand.
Behind the scenes, every check leaves a traceable record, and role-based access limits sensitive data to the people who need it. If something ever goes wrong, Kforce can see exactly where.
Confidence before day one
The biggest change is timing. Kforce now confirms identity before a consultant starts, so it can act on any concern at the earliest possible point. Internal audit has reported that shift to leadership and the board.
Confidence has grown with it too, with Kforce's compliance leaders reporting far more certainty about who shows up on day one than they did a year ago. Now, they know every verification is done the same way.
Candidates have welcomed it as well. The check takes little effort, and recruiters can present it as protection for the candidate, because no one else can use their name or credentials to take a job that's theirs.
"Fraud prevention isn't just about protecting companies or clients - it's also about protecting our legitimate candidates and ensuring opportunities get to the people who have earned them, and earning their trust in the process."
Liz Stringer, VP, Deputy General Counsel, Kforce
For clients, the process is designed to stay invisible. When a hiring manager does want to see it, Kforce's account teams can walk them through every step, and that transparency has become a real point of difference.
Staying ahead of what's next
Deepfakes keep improving and fraudsters keep adapting, so Kforce keeps its fraud prevention program nimble. Kforce and 1Kosmos share what they see and use those lessons to strengthen the product for every customer.
Looking ahead, Kforce continues to evaluate opportunities to apply new advancements from 1Kosmos across its processes.
"We're not claiming victory, but we have to stay on guard, evolve with it... The work done so far has enabled us to get ahead of this issue, and that's really been the most important thing - proactive as opposed to reactive."
John Dyer, VP of Internal Audit, Kforce
For a staffing and solutions firm built on speed, scale, and trust, that's the edge: clients can count on the person they hired being the person who shows up.
