Unemployed for months, he did what the advice columns tell people to do: he stretched the dates on his résumé so the gap looked shorter, and on the background-check form he said his current employer should not be contacted.
The check came back anyway. The investigator told him they knew he had already left the job.
That was how he learned about The Work Number — an Equifax company that sells payroll, paystub, W-2 and employment data to employers running background checks. His consent was not part of the transaction. His instruction not to contact the employer was not either. The records had already been sold.
His advice to anyone in the same position: freeze your The Work Number data before you apply. He posted the link. He also admitted the dates on his résumé were not accurate. The data broker did not need them.