Recruitment scams work because they reach people at the moment they most want good news: after a layoff, deep into a notice period, or months into an off-campus search. They are rarely sophisticated. Almost every one follows one of a few scripts, and every script ends by asking for your money, your one-time codes, or your documents. Learn the scripts and a short verification routine, and you can rule out most fake offers in minutes.
Six scripts scammers use on job seekers
The task job that turns into deposits
A WhatsApp or Telegram message from an unknown number offers part-time work from home: liking videos, following accounts, rating hotels on a map. The first few tasks really do pay small amounts into your UPI account. Then you join a group where “members” post screenshots of big earnings, and a “mentor” introduces prepaid tasks: deposit money, complete the task, get it back with commission. The first deposit comes back. Later ones are larger, a dashboard shows a growing balance, and withdrawing it suddenly needs a tax, an upgrade fee, or a payment to fix an “error”. The balance was never real. The same script also appears as app testing, data entry, or product reviews.
Registration, training, and “refundable” deposits
The job sounds real, often because its title and description were copied from a genuine posting, but there is a fee before you start: registration, mandatory training, certification, a security deposit for a laptop or ID card, “BGV charges”, or offer-letter processing. Calling it refundable is the tell, not a reassurance. Employers pay to hire, equip, and verify you, and agencies in software hiring are paid by the employer. A paid course that promises placement is a course, not a job; judge it as a purchase and distrust any guarantee.
Fake offer letters and impersonated recruiters
Scammers borrow the names and logos of well-known employers, and sometimes the names of real HR staff copied from LinkedIn. The “recruiter” writes from a free email address or a domain that looks right at a glance: an extra word such as “careers” or “hr”, a hyphen, a different ending. An offer arrives after little or no interviewing, often on generous terms, and asks you to return it signed with documents or a fee “to block your seat”. Watch for a company name and address that do not match the employer’s website, signatures pasted in as images, and a generic greeting.
Interviews held only over chat
The whole “interview” happens in a text chat. The questions are generic, with no technical depth, and you are selected the same day. Requests for a video call are refused, or the interviewer’s camera never works. A genuine software hiring process almost always includes at least one live conversation with an engineer, on video or in person, that tests what you know.
Early requests for codes, bank details, or identity documents
Before any real interview, you are asked for Aadhaar and PAN copies, a selfie, bank details “for salary setup”, or a one-time code sent to your phone “to verify your application”. That code usually means someone is trying to sign in to your WhatsApp, email, or bank account, and documents gathered this way can be used to take loans or open accounts in your name. A UPI collect request presented as a joining bonus is a payment out of your account: you never need your UPI PIN to receive money.
Equipment purchases for remote jobs
After a quick interview for a remote role, you are told to buy a laptop, headset, or software licence from a supplier the company insists on, or to pay a deposit for company equipment, with the cost promised back in your first salary. In another version they send you money first and ask you to forward part of it to that supplier, which makes your bank account part of a fraud. Genuine remote employers ship equipment themselves or reimburse purchases through a documented expense process after you join.
Red flags at a glance
One of these is a reason to stop and verify. Two or more together means a scam until proven otherwise.
| Red flag | What a genuine employer does |
|---|---|
| Asks you to pay anything: a fee, a deposit, a “refundable” charge, a courier cost | Pays for its own hiring, equipment, and verification |
| Interviews only over text chat and makes an offer within hours | Holds at least one live technical round with an engineer |
| Writes from a free email service or a lookalike domain | Writes from its own domain, or a named agency’s |
| Wants an OTP, UPI PIN, password, or a screen-sharing app installed | Never needs any of these, at any stage |
| Wants Aadhaar, PAN, or bank details before any interview | Collects documents after a verified offer, through official channels |
| Rushes you: “pay today”, “last two seats” | Gives a reasonable deadline and answers your questions |
| Sells a referral or a “guaranteed” interview | Rewards employees for referrals; candidates never pay |
| Asks you to receive money and pass it on | Never asks this; it is money laundering, and the account used can be frozen |
How to verify a recruiter or an offer
Run these checks before you send anything beyond your resume. A genuine recruiter will not mind.
- Find the job yourself. Reach the employer’s website by typing its address or searching for the company, not through the link you were sent, and look for the role on its careers page. If it is missing, ask for the job ID or the official posting link; some roles are never advertised, so a missing posting calls for more checks rather than proving fraud. A listing on a well-known job board can still be fake.
- Read the email domain letter by letter. It should exactly match the employer’s website domain, or belong to an agency you can look up and that names its client. Check the reply-to address too, since it can differ from the sender shown. Automated messages from an application portal or a coding-test platform may come from that platform’s domain, which is normal when the process began on the official careers page.
- Check the person. A real recruiter’s profile has a work history and industry connections, and usually appears among the company’s listed employees. If you know anyone who works there, ask them to confirm the recruiter and the role. If you call, use the number on the official website.
- Check the process. A real offer follows real interviews with people whose names you know, carries the employer’s registered company name and an address matching its website, and arrives from the official domain. The guide to CTC and offer letters shows what a genuine letter contains.
- Never pay. Not a deposit, not a refundable fee, not a small courier charge. A request for money ends the process, however convincing everything else looks.
- Never share codes or access. No employer needs an OTP, a UPI PIN, a password, or remote access to your phone or laptop.
- Share documents late, through official channels. Identity and bank documents belong at onboarding, after you accept a verified written offer, uploaded to the employer’s portal or its background verification partner. If someone needs an ID earlier, use a masked Aadhaar from UIDAI’s official website, which hides all but the last four digits, and mark each copy with its purpose and the date.
The rule that catches nearly every scam: in a genuine hiring process you never pay the employer, the recruiter, or anyone they send you to. If money has to move from you first, it is not a job.
Lines that create pressure, and how to answer them
Scams rely on urgency and on making a refusal feel rude. Typical lines:
- “The deposit is refundable with your first salary.” Real employers do not hold candidates’ money.
- “This is standard BGV procedure.” Background verification is commissioned and paid for by the employer.
- “Only two seats are left in this batch.” Genuine offers do not expire within the hour.
- “Our HR team is busy, so we interview on chat.” Engineering teams interview engineers live.
- “Share the code you just received so we can verify your profile.” That code opens an account that belongs to you.
One reply covers all of them: “I don’t pay fees or share codes during hiring. Please send the role through the company’s official careers page or email domain, and I’ll continue there.” A genuine recruiter will do that without fuss. A scammer will push harder, change the story, or vanish.
If you were targeted, paid, or shared details
If you only received the approach, report it as in the last step below and move on. If you paid or shared anything, act at once and do not let embarrassment slow you down; these scams catch careful, experienced people too. Work through the steps in order:
- Stop paying and stop replying. There is no final fee that releases your money. Do not delete the chat.
- Report the fraud immediately. Call the national cybercrime helpline, 1930, or file a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in. The sooner a report reaches the banks involved, the better the chance that money can be held before it moves on. Note the acknowledgement number.
- Call your bank. Use the number on your card or in the bank’s official app or website. Report the transactions, block your card, UPI, or net banking if any details were shared, and change your UPI PIN and passwords.
- Secure any account a shared code belonged to. Log out of linked devices on WhatsApp and other sessions on your email, change passwords, and turn on two-step verification.
- Protect your identity if you sent documents. Lock your Aadhaar biometrics through UIDAI’s official website or app, and check your credit report over the following months for loans or cards you never applied for.
- Keep the evidence. Screenshot chats with phone numbers visible, and save UPI IDs, transaction reference numbers, account numbers, website addresses, emails, and offer letters.
- Report the contact. Report suspected fraud calls and messages through Chakshu on sancharsaathi.gov.in, report the profile or posting to the platform where you found it, and tell the real employer through its official website.
Treat anyone who later offers to recover your money for a fee as a second scam; recovery goes through your complaint and your bank, not through agents. This is general information, not legal advice, and the official portal has the current reporting process.
A two-minute check before you reply to any job message
- Is it a specific role at a named company, listed on that company’s official careers page?
- Does the email domain exactly match the employer’s, or a named agency’s?
- Has anyone mentioned a fee, a deposit, or a purchase? Stop there.
- Has anyone asked for an OTP, a PIN, a password, or remote access? Stop there.
- Are documents being requested before a verified written offer?
- Has an engineer interviewed you live, on video or in person?
- Are you being rushed?
uHired never charges candidates, never asks for identity documents or bank details, and nobody from the team will ask you to read out or forward a one-time code. If a listing you found there led to a request for money or documents, email hello@spexlabs.in with the job title, the employer, and the page address; such reports are prioritised.