How to tell a fraudulent job offer from a real one

A 26-year-old victim from Ramanagara was recently rescued from Saudi Arabia

No company demands money in lieu of a job, say experts. Recently, the Karnataka Non-Resident Indian Forum and the Indian General Consulate at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, helped a victim of a job scam return to his home in Ramanagara.

A fake company owner in Shivaji Nagar had asked Mohammed Ashfaq to deposit Rs 1 lakh to secure a ‘well-paying’ gig job in Saudi Arabia. Reportedly, the 26-year-old was treated like a slave and paid a pittance.

Recruitment consultants say fraudsters prey on vulnerable people, who have low qualifications or who are facing financial difficulties, or freshers who aren't aware of how professional hiring works. Ashfaq is a ninth-grade dropout.

Anis Ahmed, a subject matter expert based in the UAE, says the Ministry of External Affairs, India, lists authorised overseas job recruitment agents on this portal: emigrate.gov.in/#/emigrate. You can find the ‘Recruiting Agent List’ and ‘List of Unregistered RA/Illegal Agencies/Agent’ under
the ‘Recruiting Agent’ tab.

Refuse money demands

If a job agency or a company demands money during the hiring process, back out, says Apurwa Sinha, founder and CEO, Acute Mentors. She had a similar experience while she was job hunting in 2022. “The office was small but nice. The interviewers said, ‘If you pay us Rs 20,000, we will give a package of Rs 50,000. If you pay more, you will get more. Pay us now, with a credit card, and you can start work’,” she recalls.

The demand for bank, credit card or PAN card details, with a sense of urgency, is a tell-tale sign of a scam, she says.

Money is asked in the form of a recruitment fee, security deposit, uniform fee, laptop fee and insurance fee, says Anuj Agrawal, founder and CEO, Zyoin Group. Some may demand upfront payment for training material, access to software, or a business starter kit, says Sekhar Garisa, CEO, Foundit.

Stick to official channels

According to Viswanath P S, MD & CEO, Randstad India, receiving job opportunities from platforms one hasn’t signed up for is an early sign of a scam. Such messages are sent on WhatsApp, Telegram or SMS, promising work from home, overseas placement, or high pay for minimal work. “The messages are often inconsistent and not aligned with industry standards concerning salaries and incentives,” he adds. His company has posted steps to report such frauds on the website, randstad.in/job-seeker/job- scams.

Recruiters communicate via custom business email IDs, so watch out. “Scammers approach using fake Gmail or Hotmail IDs bearing the name of CEO or CXO of the company, which they trace from LinkedIn,” says Agrawal.

Vijay Srivastava, an HR professional, says the recruitment for government jobs is well-defined and vacancies are extensively advertised. “Agents have no role in the process,” he cautions. If classified advertisements for jobs mention only a mobile number in contact details, one must be wary.

Garisa counts scheduling interviews at coffee shops or private residences as a red flag.

Run a basic check

If you are applying for jobs via agents, ask them to furnish details like the location of the company, job description, and terms of service. Then, check the company’s website or call up to verify. 

Ahmed is an anti-fraud and corporate compliance expert. He says, in India, one can look up the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website to check if a company is duly licensed. In some countries, such information can be accessed on the government or private company database for Rs 800-Rs 1,600, he says. 

Overseas scams 

Ahmed says currently three kinds of job frauds are rampant in the foreign market. One is part-time scams, where people are asked to do reviews on YouTube. "Subsequently, scammers say they are qualified to do more work and ask them to deposit money (if they want to continue)," he explains.

Another method is by extracting a 'clearance fee' or 'migration fee' in return for getting them a job abroad. 

Thirdly, people are hired to scam others over calls or messages. Initially, the victims aren't aware they have been scammed. By the time they do, they can't approach the police because the police won't trust them, he shares. "Worse, their passports are withheld. Fake employers say 'If you achieve this result, we will let you go'. Because, they need to recover the money they have incurred to bring them over," he explains, adding Indians fall for this scam a lot.