Have you ever called out of work when you weren't exactly sick?
Lets face it, everyone has had one of those days when you didn't feel like going to work. But, what if you knew that a website offering fake doctors notes, guaranteed to work, was only a few clicks away.
A simple search is all you need... the website bestfakedoctorsnotes.net pops right up.
The site offers more than 30 fake doctors notes, ranging from your typical primary care and dentist notes to pregnancy and even oncology notes. They're yours to alter and choose from for less than 20 dollars.
So, how legitimate are these? We asked the owner of Gurreri Motors in York if he could tell the difference between two real doctors notes from doctors in central Pennsylvania and a fake one from the website.
"I think both of these are fake. (These are the two real ones and this is the fake one) Wow!" said Joe Gurreri.
Gurreri usually takes his employees' word if they're sick. He's shocked someone would go to these lengths, but he's even more surprised at how real these notes appear.
"That has the name of the company, it has the patient`s name, the patient`s signature, the doctor`s signature," said Gurreri.
A survey conducted by Circadian, a workforce solutions company, found that excessive absenteeism costs employers $2,600 a year for a salaried employee and $3,600 for an hourly employee.
Dianna Shafer with staffing agency, Robert Half, says calling out sick creates tension.
"It's tough you know, and those other employees have to kind of pick up where those employees calling off, make sure tasks and deadlines are being met as well," said Shafer.
We asked Dianna the same question as Joe. Could she decipher between the real doctors notes and the fake one?
"There's definitely differences, I mean, you see all kinds of sick notes for sure so there's none that jump out at me. You don't typically see one on letterhead," said Shafer.
She also chose one of the real doctors notes. She told us the fake note was actually the most believable.
"I think this one would probably be the one that would look," said Shafer.
Workers compensation attorney, David Pollick, was outraged when we showed him the website's notes.
"What they're doing is pure fraud, fraud not only against their employers but fraud against society," said Pollick.
Pollick says handing in a fake sick note as an excuse can not only get you fired, but prevent you from collecting unemployment. And if you fake a signature, you could end up paying restitution and behind bars for up to 7 years.
"Whatever you think you're gaining, I've got news for you, you're losing, big time," said Pollick.
Pollick tried to tell the notes apart for himself.
"I`d say probably that one. (These are the two real ones, this is the fake one) Impressive, very impressive. Fooled me, and after 35 years I thought I'd been able to see it," said Pollick.
Pollick says legal action against the website is nearly impossible, with the world wide web, you or even the police may never track them down. He has a message for folks who've thought about playing hooky.
"There are no real shortcuts in the world. You get up and you work hard everyday because that's the only thing that has ever worked and if you want to take a short cut, my guess is you're not going to do so well," said Pollick.
We reached out to the website and asked for their response to what we uncovered, and have not heard back.
