Fake jobs scam targets AirAsia: Know how to protect yourself
Fake jobs scam in India are a dime a dozen. The latest to warn people is AirAsia, which has reportedly received several complaints regarding fraudulent offers on their behalf. Some jobseekers claimed to have received emails from "AirAsia Airlines Limited", which called them for an interview but only after a payment of Rs. 9,600. Here's how you can identify such fake offers.
Aspiring jobseeker alerted AirAsia about the fraud
The MO of such rackets is simple: contact the target through authentic-looking communication, say they have been shortlisted/selected, but ask for money before confirming a job. A 23-year-old was among the many who had received such an offer from "AirAsia". He then informed the airlines.
We use own HR resources, don't charge candidates: AirAsia clarifies
AirAsia said it was aware of these "fake advertisements" and was exploring legal options. "AirAsia would like to caution the general public that unscrupulous individuals and recruitment agencies have tried to mislead the public by fictitiously claiming to be employees or authorized recruitment agencies," the spokesperson added. Clarifying, it said it doesn't hire through external agencies and doesn't charge anything for recruitment either.
Nearly 150 rackets reported in a year
The fake jobs industry has been thriving in India since years, but from newspaper ads, it has now reached the online platform with a much wider target-base. That unemployment is high doesn't help things. HT claimed 140 rackets during September'16-September'17 from 35 Indian cities. Half of these had conned 30,000 people. The most common way to dupe jobseekers is charging for non-existent offers.
Here's how you can identify fake job offers
Firstly, any offer that asks you for money to be interviewed is in all likelihood a scam. Most major companies don't charge candidates. Red-flags: grammatical errors in the email, non-existent URLs/websites/contact numbers provided, no information about the company on Google, offers without interviews, offers from places you never applied to, vague job descriptions. To confirm, contact the company named in the letter directly.
