Priya (name changed on request), a content marketer with over two years of experience, recently received a tempting job offer from a well-known multinational company abroad, boasting an attractive salary and a range of perks.
However, sensing something suspicious, Priya conducted her own investigation. After digging deeper, she discovered it was a scam orchestrated by fraudsters.Unfortunately, Priya isn’t the only one targeted by these scams; many others have also fallen prey to enticing job offers from scammers. The number of online job scams, especially involving overseas positions, has surged in recent times.
The Rise of Overseas Job Scams in India
According to a TNN report from April 2024, a placement agency in Bhayander (East) duped over 200 people across India, swindling them out of Rs 85 lakh by falsely offering jobs in African countries and Iran. Another report reveals that on May 27, 2024, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested five individuals suspected of running a fake job scheme.
In May of this year, yet another job scam came to light. The Indian Embassy in Cambodia successfully rescued 60 Indian nationals who had fallen victim to fraudulent job offers in the country. The Embassy’s official website has since issued guidelines for Indian job seekers, urging them to remain vigilant and exercise caution when considering overseas employment opportunities. “It has come to attention that Indian nationals, lured by fake promises of lucrative job opportunities in Cambodia, are falling into the trap of human traffickers. These Indian nationals are coerced to undertake online financial scams and other illegal activities,” the advisory reads. “Indian nationals intending to visit Cambodia for employment are cautioned to do so only through authorised agents. It is also advised that the background of the prospective employer in Cambodia is checked thoroughly,” it adds. Over the past few years, hundreds of job seekers from Kerala, Punjab, and Gujarat among other states, have been swindled out of lakhs of rupees through fraudulent international job offers.
With the rise in such scams, it is essential to carefully scrutinize any job offer before accepting it. A job offer that seems to be from Australia might actually lead you to Cambodia or Laos, trapping you in a scam. To protect yourself, here are five crucial checks to perform before agreeing to an overseas job offer.
Fake or Genuine? 5 Key Methods to Verify Overseas Job Offers
Here, we have listed a few ways to check the authenticity of the job offers. Following these will safeguard you from falling prey to the job scam racket.
Check the Official Website of the Ministry of External Affairs
Visit the Emigrate website at emigrate.gov.in and navigate to the ‘Recruiting Agent’ tab, to access the list of recruiting agents. From there, click on the ‘Recruiting Agent List’ column, which will redirect you to a new page from where you can download a PDF file.
The same website will help you identify illegal overseas job recruitment agents as identified by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA. Once there, navigate to the ‘Recruiting Agent’ section and select the ‘List of Unregistered RA/Illegal Agencies/Agent’ tab. This will open a new page displaying a state-wise list of known illegal agents.
Verify Company Legitimacy
In order to find out if a company is legally operating, verify its registration and licensing status in the claimed country. In India, this can be done through the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) website. In other countries, you might need to use government or private databases, which could incur a fee (usually between $10-20). It’s better to pay for this verification than to trust an unfamiliar company without checking.
Watch Out For Professionalism In The Job Offer
Genuine job offers exude professionalism and typically include signatures from the company’s authorized personnel. Be vigilant for logos that appear distorted or altered to resemble the authentic ones. Additionally, job offers riddled with grammatical or typographical errors may indicate they are fraudulent.
Check Out The Official Website
A reputed company will typically have a well-maintained website featuring clear contact information and generally positive reviews from employees on sites like Glassdoor or LinkedIn.
Furthermore, a company’s official website can provide significant insights into its work culture. Examine the domain name and the overall structure of the site. A well-organized, professional website is a good sign, whereas a poorly designed site may suggest it was created by scammers.
Consult the Indian Embassy
Seeking assistance from the Indian embassy or consulate in the destination country can be beneficial for verifying the legitimacy of an employer.
