So I am to put my current employment at risk by divulging that I am in negotiations with another employer(competitor) by letting call them and asking them how much I make? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUT MIND?
Actually that is not the case. We would never contact the current employer of an applicant unless that applicant gave us permission to do so - which is not very often.
BTW, verification is through the paystub that the applicant provides us - I doubt that any companies out there would provide salary information on their employees! That's a rather silly notion, by the way.
You have obviously never been in a management position. Why don't you listen to some that have and learn something instead of jumping to conclusions and lashing out.