Fraudsters take hefty sums from jobseekers promising non-existent work

The two youngsters spent the ill-gotten money on cars, parties and an expensive lifestyle

Two PUC-failed youngsters brazenly executed an elaborate scam to dupe hundreds of job seekers by taking money from them with the promise of employment in a private company.

The North-East CEN Crime police, who arrested 27-year-old Raghu C alias Navneeth and his 25-year-old associate Sai Kiran, suspect a long list of victims running to thousands, although only a few have filed complaints against the
fraudsters.

The duo spent the ill-gotten money on cars, parties and an expensive lifestyle.

A team headed by inspector Santosh Ram R nabbed Raghu and Kiran following a complaint by Shashank N, an employee of Alcon Laboratories India Pvt Ltd, in February.

Shashank stated in his complaint that his company learnt about a few women calling job aspirants posing as HR managers of Alcon Laboratories and assured them jobs. They even conducted exams and interviews, collecting thousands of rupees from them. Some victims informed Alcon about the fraud.

Raghu and Kiran, who met during their job hunt and have been committing the fraud for the past three years, lived in apartments, owned cars, and frequented parties in pubs and hotels. Having learnt of their fraud, their parents threw them out.

Modus operandi

The duo would rent office spaces in different areas under different names, hire women, and make them call the list of job aspirants taken from portals. The women were unaware that they are representing fraudsters and called the aspirants with fake job offers.

The women employees collected Rs 250 as application fee. They later called the aspirants to inform them that they had been selected for interviews and take Rs 2,500.

After holding telephonic interviews, the employees would tell aspirants that they were picked for the second round of interviews and written exams, at which stage they would collect Rs 7,500.

The fraudsters conducted the entire process online and gave account numbers for the victims to deposit the money. They regularly fired the women employees citing poor job performance, even as they covered their tracks and ensured they never got a whiff of the scam.

They only hired women

Raghu and Kiran, who only hired women, made them call 100 aspirants a day and at least 10 of them would fall prey to the scam.

As they shifted the office space once in three or four months, Raghu and Kiran did not pay the rent to the landlords.

While arresting them, police seized 11 mobile phones, a laptop, two CPUs and Rs 43,000 in cash.

The duo had earlier been arrested by the Byadarahalli, Basaveshwaranagar and Subramanyanagar police, while Annapoorneshwari Nagar police gave them station bail. During the last three years, the duo did not register a company, police said.