A young woman, whose dreams of flying as air hostess with a reputable airlines in the country were grounded after she was duped by a ‘fake’ manpower consultancy.
Rashi Thakur (name changed) of KPHB Colony paid ₹7 lakh to person, who promised her a job as air hostess after training.
“After I paid them money, the person stopped responding to my calls and a few days later his phone was switched off, following which I registered a case with the Cyberabad police,” she told The Hindu.
The desperation to land a highly paid job without appropriate skills and educational qualifications is forcing youngsters to approach shady consultants in the State capital - billed as top IT hub of India, police claim.
Unemployment, especially among engineering graduates, is also a major driver of this thriving fake jobs-and-visas industry, which is getting the youth into legal troubles and fake consultants into big money first and prisons later.
The victims and their educational qualification, the name of the consultancy, area, money involved the and type of jobs may vary, but almost everyone follows the same modus operandi, said Cyberabad Police Commissioner V.C Sajjanar.
The ‘cheats’ not only cash-in on the desperation of youngsters aspiring for a successful career in the IT industry in India and abroad, but also trap people dreaming for jobs in the government sector, especially in Indian Railways, he said.
Since the beginning of this year, the Cyberabad police alone busted three fake job consultancies by arresting 16 persons, who cheated lakhs of aspirants.
Last year, 15 job fraudsters associated with 10 such firms landed behind bars, Mr Sajjanar said.
In January, the Cyberabad arrested a gang of ‘fake’ manpower consultancy operating from Cyber Towers, which cheated more than one lakh job seekers from over 26 countries.
The company, Wisdom IT Services India Pvt Ltd, which claimed to have tie-up with several big players in the industry, failed to provide even one job, even as they were getting nearly 20,000 new registrations.
“Youngsters should never be in a hurry to grab the job. One should always verify the background of the firm, which is offering them job and never pay money,” the commissioner said.
Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh M Bhagwat made it clear that there are no back-door entry for jobs in government or even in the IT sector.
“Youngsters must realise that there is an entrance test even for recruitment of Home guards,” he said.
When asked about what makes an aspirant fall prey to these conmen easily, Mr Bhagwat said the fraudsters give offer letters to the candidates and take them for outdoor training.
On Wednesday, the Rachakonda police arrested four people who duped over 100 youngsters from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on the pretext of providing jobs in nationalised banks.
The gang collected over ₹3 crore before issuing fake appointment letters and taking them to Kolkata for three months training
Even as police bust job rackets almost on a daily basis, youngsters in the Telugu states are taking the risk of paying shady consultants in desperation to land jobs, police claimed.
Cheating IT firms
IT Secretary Jayesh Ranjan has a different story to tell. Apart from job-seekers, even small and medium IT companies in Hyderabad are falling prey to such manpower consultancies, he said.
“Recently, I came across a fraud, in which the agencies approach IT companies in the guise of providing manpower, take commission and scoot,” he said.
