It could be an impressive email or a telephone call with an offer one cannot say no to. But one will realise it was all bogus, that the prospective employer was a fraud only when the promises are not met and that the aspirant has lost a good amount of money. The job rackets thrive on the huge demand for jobs when there are not enough jobs for qualified young men and women.
The fraudsters use several techniques, including posing as representatives of a prominent company or launching a look-alike company. Some even, as in a case reported from Delhi’s outskirts Ghaziabad, pose like CBI officials who could provide jobs in government departments.
It is not just fictitious companies, some even dare to run a recruitment campaign in the name of well-known companies. Several companies have warned aspirants against fraudsters who seek “processing fee”, which these firms say they do not collect.
Also Read: Country's youngsters: Jobless and scammed
And it’s not just the private
companies, the fraudsters even do not mind offering jobs in government departments. In a case in May this year, four people were arrested for duping over 350 people of around Rs 50 lakh by offering jobs under the ‘Ayushman Bharat Yojana’.
In October this year, a 47-year-old man was arrested from New Delhi’s Paharganj area on charges of cheating at least eight persons of Rs 62 lakh on the pretext of providing them with jobs in Railways and Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd.
A senior official with Delhi Police said most of the victims are fresh graduates or youngsters who are looking for jobs in an otherwise shrinking job market. The extent of these rackets may be larger than what one may see, as many people may not be reporting it.
The official said that the scamsters have various ways to impress gullible aspirants like conducting interviews in star hotels.
Central government officials said they could not do much on this except for sensitising job seekers against falling prey to them. One of the initiatives taken by the government in 2003 was to issue guidelines to monitor the functioning of private recruitment agencies.
“The state governments and police will have to keep a close watch on such agencies. There are guidelines on regulating the functioning of such agencies. That system has to be robust,” one of the officials said.
It is not just fake job rackets. Officials also point out to the tendency among agencies to give promises to job seekers that are not met.
Many a time, the aspirants get less salary than promised but before the placement, they have to shell out money to the agencies.