NDTV journalist Nidhi Razdan fell for phishing attack: Here's how to recognise a fake job offer

Nidhi was offered an Associate Professor's post in the Harvard University a couple of months back in 2020. Amazing right? She also thought that it's terrific. She received an email from an HR of the Harvard mentioning their vacancy. 

So, she submitted her CV, not giving much of a thought. Then it got selected and gone through a 90 minutes interview which all felt real. But little did she know that it's all a game to get her money.

After the outbreak of Covid-19, we all faced an enormous economic crisis, and with the pandemic and strict restrictions, the work culture shifted online. We all have received some fake calls or emails regarding a job. So how to identify?

Chandresh Yadav, Senior Manager of naukri.com, believes that if a job call is asking you to submit some money and then offering the job or referring your resume to a particular company, then it's fake. "It's a foremost basic thing that if an authentic company is hiring somebody, they will not ask a penny until and unless that candidate is going via consultancy."

If you receive any mail from a reputed named job portal or company, do not believe it and always cross-check it. Why? Here's what Mr. Amreshwar Sati, Chief Operating Officer of a multinational company, says, "We should always check the company's email id. The host or the domain name. You can always visit that company's website. You can also check the company's representatives LinkedIn profile or person who handles employment in the company to know whether they genuinely have any job vacancy."

Adding to this, Chandresh Yadav said, "Whenever you are applying for a job as per your requirement, always do your homework. Research about the company. If you have received an email check the URL as there are always some goof-ups that we do not pay heed to. Just the way we do our homework before hiring a candidate or even refer anybody." 

But, let's say you have taken that call seriously and you have given your details only to find out that it's a scam. How will you get yourself out from that spiralling? Mr Sati says, "You should always be cautious before taking that step. Do your due diligence, use your intelligence, do not just believe everything that is out there. And, if you have already taken it, then you should go to a Legal person. Take help from the police to lodge the complaint and go to cybercrime. But, also you should always inform the company from which the alleged offer has been made."

Nidhi received an offer letter with proper letterhead and signatures from the Deans of Harvard University. Yet, she got cheated, so how will you recognise a fake offer letter? Explaining the same Chandresh says, "If you are receiving an offer letter, then it must come from an email id. You should always check that email id. Something will be amiss, and you should check it via Google."

While adding to this, Amreshwar believes that " While making an offer the email should generally come from the Company's HR and its letterhead should be signed by them. if not, then the email should be copied to the HR of the company or some official representatives, and it can be verified. If there is nothing of that short then it is a red flag."

• Nidhi Razdan
• Fake job offers
• phishing
• digital
• fake offer letter
• lifestyle
• jobs
• Covid-19