The high rate of unemployment in India has made fraud in the name of employment a lucrative business

Due to the shortage of jobs in the private and public sector and the influx of pass-outs from substandard vocational colleges, fake job offers are deceiving people on a large scale.

The portal of the Ministry of Labor and Employment of the National Career Service (NCS) registered 2 million active vacancies on 30 July 2024. Most of the vacancies are in the financial and insurance sector . followed by operations and support and in the manufacturing sector.

The Economic Survey for the financial year 2023-24 states that there has been a significant decline in recruitment in the IT sector over the past two years. The survey said that although there is no longer a decrease in recruitment, there is no possibility of a substantial increase. More than 13.4 lakh candidates appeared in the UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2024 examination in June this year. They compete for nearly 1,000 jobs. The financial sector is going through a period of digital transformation, and as automation replaces traditional roles, employment relationships and skills needs are affected.

Due to the shortage of jobs in the private and public sector and the influx of students passing out from substandard vocational colleges, fake job offers are deceiving people on a large scale.

College graduates and small-town professionals, people out of work due to the pandemic and even senior tech-savvy executives, thousands are falling for higher-paying offers and overseas relocations.

India’s high unemployment rate means lucrative business for fraudsters, who offer fake jobs to disillusioned youth.

Examples of people being lured into fake jobs are common in Canada. But these job consultants seem to use more elaborate and deceptive techniques.

Recently, a 50-year-old man presented himself, who was promised a job in Canada by the consultancy. The consultancy had instructed him to keep Rs 5 lakh in a bank account and open a bank account for him for visa approval. After depositing Rs 4 lakh in the victim’s account, the consultancy looked at his bank credentials and evaded him. After much effort, the victim realized that the accused had already withdrawn the money and disappeared.

In another incident, a 23-year-old student from Hyderabad filed a complaint against a New Delhi-based consultancy, alleging that it had given him a fake letter for a job in Canada. He paid both online and in cash, which resulted in a loss of Rs 14.5 lakh.

In May, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned job applicants from abroad – particularly from Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos – to accept job offers misleading for positions such as “digital sales and marketing executive”. regarding the risks connected to The recruitment process also includes an interview and some tests to show the real. Recruits are offered a higher salary, hotel bookings, as well as return air tickets and visa facilities. The victims are smuggled across the border from Thailand into Laos and held hostage to work in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone under very restrictive conditions. Held hostage by criminal gangs, job seekers find themselves forced to engage in illegal online activities.

Browsing the internet you will find many jobs from home projects. Job scams lure victims with promises of easy work-from-home options, including simple tasks like “liking” a YouTube video. Job scams usually ask for a deposit to schedule an interview or provide a “kit.” After the victim deposits the money, the fraudsters disappear. Even if they cheat even 5% of job seekers, they make huge profits.

Investigation reveals that this is a nationwide scam and cyber police in North Delhi is trying to get to the bottom of this scam. In their massive conspiracy, the fraudsters also established a fictitious company and rented an office space to dupe the people sent by the bank for physical verification.

Another point in favor of fraudsters is that many people avoid filing a complaint because they feel ashamed to reveal that they have been defrauded. Sanjay Goyal, business head of Times Jobs, says, “It’s shocking…but even people at the managing director, director level are being cheated.”

Many large corporations in India have had to issue notifications to warn against fraudsters using company names, brands and logos and calling candidates for interviews on the condition of making a “security deposit”.

Earlier this year, Western Railways had busted a fake recruitment racket, under which the accused had cheated 300 candidates of Rs 21 crore on false promises of jobs.

Along with investigations and punitive measures, it is also important that the government adopts a multi-pronged strategy to reduce the crisis of job scams. A system should also be developed to provide advice to job seekers, provide assistance support for questions, block access to any dubious recruiters and provide legal assistance to victims of such scams.

(Vishali is a strategic business and economic analyst.)

relative