Online job scams increase, cops filed 50 cases last year

If you receive an email from an unidentified address where the sender tells you that they found your resume online and that you are eligible for a lucrative job in their company, think twice before going ahead with their instructions.

The email could also be a trap laid by fraudsters to rob you off a few lakh rupees.

Several residents have lost up to Rs7 lakh by falling prey to such job scams. According to sources from the city crime branch, over 50 such cases were registered in the city last year as opposed to 38 cases registered in 2014.

“The biggest problem in job scams is that the receivers can’t know whether an offer is genuine or fake. Many of them fall for lucrative offers and end up depositing huge sums of money to the given bank accounts. Many of them also share their bank details expecting a job in their favoured city,” said Pratibha Shendge, inspector from Navi Mumbai cyber cell.

“If the receiver responds to the offer, the fraudsters start asking for money ‘ for clearing formalities’. While some people went on paying the money in different instalments, some others stopped midway and approach the police. Recently, a group approached the Belapur police after paying a hefty amount for jobs in a privatesector bank,” she said.

According to Shendge, the fraudsters try to make their emails sound believable by l i sting ‘ j ob requirements’. Usually these requirements are ridiculously simple and almost everyone qualifies: ‘Must be 18 years old’, ‘Must be a citizen of India’, ‘Must have access to the internet’ among others.

“When the victims ask for a job description or list of job duties, they get the brush- off. The interviewer either ignores the questions or says something like ‘ don’t worry, we’ll train you,” she said.

“Some f raud emails are well- written, but many aren’t. Genuine companies hire professionals who can write well. If the email contains spelling, punctuation or grammatical mistakes, one has to be careful about it,” another official from cyber cell said.

Several residents, especially the young ones, fall prey to such scams but don’t approach the police assuming they would gain nothing out of it.

Garima Shinde (name changed on request), 24, a resident of Kamothe said, “I had transferred Rs25,000 to a given bank account for a job which was offered to me online in December, 2014. However, when they asked for a bigger amount on another pretext, I started making enquires. Then they stopped picking up my calls. However, I did not register an FIR, as I did not want to get my name in police records.”

Shendg e s ai d, “In s uch cases the victims come to us only after paying the hefty amount to the fraudsters. It is also difficult to find where the fraudsters are based. So creating awareness is the only solution for reducing such crimes.”