1
LinkedIn Recruiter Contact
A recruiter named Ankit Sharma messages you on LinkedIn. His profile looks professional—photo, job title, 400+ connections, listed as working at "TalentBridge Consulting." He mentions your internship and suggests a digital marketing coordinator role.
Your Trust Level
Not Suspicious
2
Salary Offer: ₹52,000/month
After a brief screening call, Ankit sends an email with a salary offer. The role pays ₹52,000 per month. You were expecting ₹32,000. The number is impressive—60% above market rate for this role. You feel validated, lucky, chosen.
Your Trust Level
Optimistic
3
Professional Video Interview
Two days later, you complete a Google Meet interview with two people on camera. They ask structured questions about your marketing experience. Professional backgrounds. Real-looking business setting. They mention next steps and timelines. By the end, you feel like this is a legitimate job.
Your Trust Level
Confident
4
Official Offer Letter Arrives
Within 48 hours, an email arrives from "HR" with a formal offer letter. It has a company letterhead, a company seal, joining date, and a detailed salary breakdown with CTC components. You feel like this is really happening. You call your mother and tell her you got the job.
Your Trust Level
Very Confident
5
The Equipment Deposit Request
The next morning, another "HR" message arrives: "Before system access activation, please pay ₹4,800 as a refundable deposit for your work laptop and onboarding kit. This will be deducted from your first salary." It feels like a normal process step. You have an offer letter. You had professional interviews. Surely this is legitimate?
Your Trust Level
Pause Starting Here?
6
The Moment of Truth
You transfer ₹4,800. The HR number stops responding. The LinkedIn profile disappears. The company website returns a 404 error. You search the company name and find 34 complaints in a consumer forum. All the same story. Same ₹4,800. Same promise of a laptop that never came. The interviewers on Google Meet were using pre-recorded video, played back in real time.
Your Final Trust Level
Realization
What this exercise reveals
Trust increased at every stage. That is the design. Scammers do not ask for money on day one — they build credibility first, then exploit it.
The interview was not verification — it was investment
Pre-recorded video and AI-generated faces can look convincing. Completing an interview makes you more likely to comply with later requests. It was designed to.
Pre-recorded video and AI-generated faces can look convincing. Completing an interview makes you more likely to comply with later requests. It was designed to.
Your documents are the real target
The ₹4,800 was a hook. The real goal was your Aadhaar, PAN, and bank details — used to open mule accounts, take loans, and file fraudulent tax returns in your name.
The ₹4,800 was a hook. The real goal was your Aadhaar, PAN, and bank details — used to open mule accounts, take loans, and file fraudulent tax returns in your name.
Trust should never replace verification
Search the company on mca.gov.in. Check the domain creation date with WHOIS. Verify independently — outside the recruitment conversation — every time.
Search the company on mca.gov.in. Check the domain creation date with WHOIS. Verify independently — outside the recruitment conversation — every time.
Any advance payment is a disqualifier
Legitimate employers pay you to work. No deposit, equipment charge, or registration fee — ever. If money is requested before your first salary, it is fraud.
Legitimate employers pay you to work. No deposit, equipment charge, or registration fee — ever. If money is requested before your first salary, it is fraud.