City-based lecturer, Dinesh from Yelahanka was overjoyed when he received a phone call on May 17, 2015, from a man claiming to be a head hunter and promising him a job with a clothes retail arm of an Indian conglomerate. The head hunter claimed to have found his curriculum vitae on a well-known job portal. For Dinesh, who had always aspired to be a fashion designer, this was dream job. Little did he realise that he would be conned out of Rs 86,300.
Dinesh is one of the many victims in Bengaluru to have fallen prey to an escalating online job fraud to which aspirants are being lured into with the promise of placement in an established and well-known company. The con men have put in place an elaborate setup meant to convince potential victims of their authenticity.
The initial call from the head hunter is followed up by a telephone call from an executive claiming to be from the company. The victim is then asked to pay a small amount usually Rs 2,000 as a registration fee, after which there are online interviews. The con men even issue bogus letters with fake letter heads and salary scale details. With every step, the target is asked to shell out more money to be eligible for the next step in the hiring process.
Money transfers are made online and even through e-wallets. Once the targets start demanding results or expresses suspicion, the sites disappear and the accounts are closed.
Fraudsters register with portals
The Bengaluru City Police and the Cyber Police Stations of the State CID receive no less than five complaints a week on such online job frauds, and officials are calling it an “escalating trend”.
“The fraudsters pay and register themselves as employers on famous job portals and browse through numerous resumes posted by job seekers to pick their targets,” said an investigating officer attached to the CID.
Apart from posing as head hunters for established firms, they also lure targets by pretending to be HR personnel from big firms. “I was tricked and taken for a ride. There was a telephone and an online interview for a lucrative job in the IT sector for which I ended up paying up to Rs. 1.25 lakh in instalments,” added Abhay Kumar from Kormangala, who has now sought police help.
Fake job portals
Some fraudsters had created fake job sites online that were convincing enough to pass off as genuine portals. “I was guided through a website www.perfect4career.com through a telephonic conversation by someone who claimed to be a recruiter,” said Rishab, a Vijayanagar resident. (The site is no longer active.) “The person assured me of a mechanical engineering job at a famous automobile firm in Chennai. But it all turned out to be a fake,” he added.
How the fraud unfolds
Fraudsters register as recruiters on job portals and source resumes to find targets
Posing as head hunters or HR executives from leading firms including IT, they contact job aspirants, mainly youth desperate for a job.
The promise lucrative posts in established companies, and accomplices conduct online and telephone interviews
Fake job portals are created and victims are given guided tours on them for job options.
People are asked to deposit money either into bank accounts or via e-wallets.
When the job-seekers become suspicious and start asking questions, the fraudster snaps all contact
Numerous police cases registered and probe underway.
