Mangaluru: Are you looking for a job? Then, beware of fake online job portals that are taking advantage of aspirants by offering them jobs which don’t exist.Take the example of Riya who was thrilled to receive a job offer. The consultant had confirmed an interview, but a nasty surprise was in store when she walked into the company’s office with her documents. She found that the offer was a fake and the offer letter — printed on the company letterhead — was not authentic. Riya had been duped.Seven years ago, some job racketeers managed to gain entry into the campus of a leading IT company by misusing the vendor entry cards issued by a company. They ran a very smooth operation and even interviewed candidates inside the office. They had everything in place, from fake company letterheads to a fake office on the company’s campus.According to job portal websites, fake job rackets are a booming industry now, thanks to shrinking jobs in private as well as public sector and hordes of students passing out of low-quality professional colleges. Most job rackets ride on big brands to lure youth in small towns and even on the outskirts of big cities. They have letterheads of all leading companies which they use to dupe aspirants.Some racketeers have even upped their game. One common modus operandi is to fish for personal details of job seekers from reputed job portals and exploit aspirants. To combat the challenge, job portals are spreading awareness on the issue.Shine.com launched a fraud awareness campaign to caution job-seekers against scammers. It has also launched a social media campaign — #NoMoreJobFraud. The company recently won a case where the accused was trying to build a similar website to theirs.Naukri.com, has put out an advertisement alerting job seekers of fraud companies duping innocent candidates with “false offers of jobs and collecting money in return”. It warns job seekers not to fall for these fake offers and double check authenticity of such false promises.Zairus Master, CEO, Shine.com, says sectors which are most vulnerable are banking and airlines/aviation. He says scammers lure freshers by showing jobs for big-brand companies and high salary packages.“Some banking organizations have complained to us,” Master said. “Scammers also lure candidates with fake jobs abroad, especially energy-rich countries and Australia and Canada which have a sizeable Indian population. Scammers demand money for work visas and offer letters.”

Stay updated with all the Latest Mangalore headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.