“We are aware of several instances of fake job postings on social media platforms about Nestlé India and other players across industries,” the company’s spokesperson said in response to Mint’s emailed queries. “We have been reporting such posts on the platform, explaining that the post is fake and directing interested candidates to official channels like Nestlé’s LinkedIn page and Nestlé India Career website.”
Kroll, a global financial and risk advisory firm, found rampant false advertisements. “Today, at least 2 out of 10 job postings are fake and in a sluggish job market, such fraudulent cases are more prevalent,” said Tarun Bhatia, regional managing director and co-head, Asia Pacific, investigations at Kroll. “Our clients now are asking for social media mining and tracking to monitor where all the firm’s name’s cropping up.”
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Indian companies have reduced hiring over the past couple of years amid global uncertainties. That has cooled the job market compared with the galloping pace after the pandemic when firms across sectors went digital. So when a job posting pops up, the number of candidates applying shoots up. That makes aspirants vulnerable to scams. On LinkedIn, one of the most-sought-after platforms by job seekers, fraud is becoming more sophisticated.
“People expect real people and real companies when they are using LinkedIn for their careers,” a spokesperson for the platform said. “We know fraud is becoming more sophisticated, so we are always investing in new technology, including artificial intelligence, and teams of experts to find and remove the vast majority of detected scams and fake accounts before you see them or they can do harm.”
‘Very little scrutiny’
In the case of Nestle, which employs 8,900 people in India, the fake post listed jobs for HR business partner, IT solutions architect, management trainee, junior data analyst, among others–offering ₹5-10 lakh salary per annum and the option to work from home. The post, which mentioned the recruiter’s details and interview dates, would have attracted many job-seekers had the company’s chairman not debunked it on 17 March. The fake recruiter’s profile is unavailable on LinkedIn.
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Companies are on multiple platforms, and anyone can post as a spokesperson for the firm, which goes unnoticed until a discrepancy pops up, Kroll’s Bhatia said. “Social media platforms have very little scrutiny on the account creators and not much is needed to validate an account.”
Lohit Bhatia, president-workforce management at Quess Corp, one of the largest staffing firms, said fraudulent job postings target a certain kind of profiles.
“The fake job offers are seen in the ₹1 lakh a month plus category and not in the entry-level profiles,” he said, adding that those who earn less often do not have the wherewithal to pay any money to the fake recruiter.
The staffing firm, which hires thousands of candidates at the entry level for clients in the banking, manufacturing and consumer sectors, uses “technology to solve such issues”.
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A QR code takes the job-seeker to Quess’ landing page with vacancy details. Candidates must submit their details, including permanent account number (PAN) and bank account details, for verification. The offer letters are signed digitally via QR codes. “During job fairs, we inform candidates that they should trust an opening that is on the QR code and not on any social media site,” Bhatia said.
Risk of data, financial theft
Such digital employment frauds increase the risk of data and financial theft.
“We are getting direct messages on social media platforms from candidates who have received job offers but we never had those vacancies,” said the HR head of a Mumbai-based firm who did not want to be named. “The offers are on letterheads which are very close to the real ones and this has now percolated even to the middle-to-senior management. Some of the candidates were asked to pay ₹50,000-1 lakh.”
Some companies have asked their recruiters to explicitly mention in their official emails that they do not charge fees from candidates at any time. RPG Group company Zensar Technologies Ltd is among those.
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“The company’s recruiters even have their email signatures reinforcing the same message highlighted through a red colour,” said Supratik Bhattacharyya, chief talent officer at the group.
Praveen Purohit, deputy chief human resources officer at Vedanta Group, said that leading companies have robust systems and best practices to tackle such fake job posts. “Still, potential candidates have to be vigilant.”
