AUTHENTIC AND CREDIBLE

It is not easy to understand how an instructor or a company can get away with false advertising to mislead prospective clients on false claims, but they are!  

These types of claims are in all industries worldwide, even in the international water safety and rescue society.  That is precisely the reason why the International Rescue Instructors Association (IRIA) exists – to warn the society about fraud and academic dishonesty and to verify authenticity.

Governments, agencies, students and instructors need to know what to do and how-to identity fraud, counterfeiting and theft.  You need to know what questions to ask and how to verify the credentials of programs and instructors to know 100% that they meet the safe and ethical standards you or your country require.

IRIA itself has been a victim and a target of misleading and false representations using our likeness, name, brand, image and documents, and we are not alone.

VERIFIED

Any credible organization or instructor will hold current credentials that verify their position. They will have credible resources available to fact check the inspection of their credentials through an interview process. This is where IRIA comes in! 

IRIA saves you time and concern! IRIA certified providers identify the validation process. This ensures that your program will receive credible support from authorized instructors and course programs that have been scrutinized to the highest degree of industry standards.

It is easy to understand why instructors and program managers want to associate themselves with the IRIA standardization and conformity verification. Upon successful verification they are automatically associated with the promise of premium service, integrity and safety assurance.

Your reputation, funding and representation of a government authority must be discerning with whom you work with. You need to be on alert for false claims to avoid the investigation and harm caused by unverified programs or unsafe processes associated to risk management.

Meeting or exceeding industry standards does not equal to being validated nor certified. Beware of claims, make sure they can be backed up with supporting evidence.

DISPLAYING THE IRIA BADGE

Credible IRIA authorized instructors or programs will be using their unique IRIA assigned badges. This serves as a way to identity the authenticity of the service provider. Their website should have the IRIA badge. Even so, you could be easily duped by a fraud or fake!

Visit the Wake of Shame list of offenders to be aware of frauds!

https://iria.org/wake-of-shame/

HOW TO TELL IF A PROGRAM OR INSTRUCTOR IS CERTIFIED AS IRIA VERIFIED?

You can search our website for our enrollment record to verify their authenticity. You can also write to use and inquire.  IRIA can verify the authenticity of your inquiry.

THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR

  1. Refusal to provide the proper certification or verification documents. However, you need to follow up with IRIA to make sure they are also not counterfeit!
  2. They may be a false representative of the organization. Verify if their company actually exists. Ask for a copy of their service records and certificates. Ask who their third-party assessor was and contact them for a reference. Do not move forward with any training until you do this.
  3. The fraudster may want you to sign a contract immediately. Use this as a red flag warning.  Fact check their references and speak to the authorizing principles for background confirmation before you sign anything.
  4. If a website is using a hyphen symbol– in its URL its most likely a fake, but not always.  Example:  www.IRIA-US.com  (FAKE!)  A genuine domain most likely has its authentic ID in the domain name, those who are frauds will spoof or copy to use the exact same wording to fool unsuspecting clients by adding a -.

Most importantly do not allow yourself to be duped or manipulated by fakes. It is up to you to research; fact check and do your homework to protect your reputation.  Do not make assumptions, make sure you are conducting a fair, equitable and honest business transaction by investing your attention on key factors of authenticity.

Your role is to protect your reputation from predators.

The only thing that works is honesty. It is up to you to be the enforcer or the victim. Work with a good plan, execute the fact finding exploration based on evidence and then proceed when you are 100% sure that no fraud is present.

Updated 8.28.2020