German engineering multi-national Bosch has filed a complaint with South East CEN police in Bengaluru about misuse of the company’s name to run a fake online recruitment scam. An FIR was registered on August 28.
The company decided to knock on the doors of the cyber crime police after several individuals, who were promised jobs by online scamsters, approached them with enquiries about the work. According to the FIR, when several individuals approached the company between December 2022 and August 2023, executives realised that the company’s name was being misused to possibly cheat job aspirants.
A cyber police officer said, “Not just Bosch, cyber police stations across Bengaluru have been receiving complaints about names of top companies being misused by criminals to cheat job aspirants. The scamsters are not based in Bengaluru. They use VPN to mask their tracks. These collect money from job aspirants in the guise of fees. Many people have lost lakhs of rupees in such frauds.”
In many cases, the victims approach the police. But in this case, the company has filed a complaint, which is a good sign. The company flagging the fraud will create awareness, possibly stopping people from falling for fraudulent job offers, the officer added.
Satish Kumar, Security Head, Bosch, told The Hindu, “I filed a complaint with the police as a precautionary measure, as these cases would bring disrepute to the company. The company’s name was being misused by fraudsters to dupe job aspirants. Over 10 individuals, who were falsely promised a job in Bosch, approached the company. There is every possibility that these scamsters are cheating job-seekers of money. It is my responsibility to bring this to the attention of the police.”
