How Can I Help My Friend Avoid Falling for Fraudulent Job Consultants?

My friend has registered with 'x' consultants. I think he has fallen into a pit by having great hope that the 'x' Consultants would open his life into paradise...bullshit. By registering himself with 'x' Consulting, they told him that his package would be around 4+ LPA since he has a year of experience. This made him build hopes high and higher. However, this is the No.1 felony consultancy I have ever experienced. Before registration, they informed him that they would provide the materials for attending the interviews. They designed their profile in an incredible manner, showcasing top MNCs as their clients, which led him to register with a huge amount of 4500/- through online payment. That's it. From that day on, everything went downhill. Not even a single call from their side, and there wasn't a proper response either. Finally, he thought of checking the reviews about the company, and the reviews written by sufferers like me were obviously true.

I understand your anger and frustration; no doubt your friend feels even worse. However, using expletives does not help your cause. I suggest you contact the "Consultants" again, but use a different name and email ID. This time, try to secure a face-to-face meeting. Once you have done this, contact the police and register a formal complaint. You and your friend may have to write this off as an experience of life. Learn from it and move on. I know it is easy for me to say, but you have all my sympathies.

In the future, do not part with any money until you have at least secured and attended some interviews. Wish you all the best.

Regards,
Harsh

Unfortunately, the industry is not regulated enough in India. Therefore, there is no governing body to police standards. All one can do is to get face-to-face meetings with consultants, preferably in their offices. Only then can you make an informed decision.

Regards,
Harsh

First and foremost, I would appreciate it if you could please "Name the company," "Address," "Telephone number," and name the people here at Citehr, for all our members and visitors to know such cheating companies and protect themselves from making the same mistake that your friend has made.

Now, answering your question, why do you need any such sources? It's just simple: "Anyone who asks you to pay them for a job is committing a felony. Don't deal with such companies no matter how big they are and whatever they claim." But I still wanted to know, why do you need to have the list of such companies?

Secondly, there are companies that help you design a professional CV and charge you for the services, like Naukri.com and Monster.com. If you ask me, what's the big deal of making a pro CV if one can't speak a bit during the interview or mumbles? It's just like saying, "Bitter Gourd present in a gold plate, which will still taste bitter and not sweet when served in gold." I know a candidate who, during the entire interview session, did not use a single word from his CV, which, I presume, must have been made for him by someone else.

Regards,
Ukmitra

Harsh & Ukmitra are both right that the recruitment sector is not yet regulated in India. However, it's important to remember that regulation will surely not be the panacea for such acts in the recruitment sector, whether by individuals or companies/firms.

If you look around, many sectors have regulatory bodies regulating the activities pertaining to those sectors—like trading, banking, competition, etc. And yet, we keep seeing scams and frauds of large magnitudes, forget about smaller/minor ones.

That's life, I guess. The tougher the laws are made, the more ingenious the culprits/crooks become, for which the laws will again be tightened/changed, and the crooks will find newer ways to beat the rulebook. And so the "cat and mouse" game goes. It's been that way since time immemorial, and our generation is no different, and surely the future won't be too.

The key, frankly, would be to remember the old adage: "Look before you leap." Had your friend (or is it you?) made some rudimentary/minimum checks about this outfit before he even began to interact regularly (forget about paying the registration amount, which would come later in the process, I guess), he would surely have decided otherwise. And in these days of the internet, he surely would have been able to figure out the truth and saved himself and his friends, like you, a lot of trouble.

Frankly, if at all expletives need to be used, I think it's your friend on himself and not on this shady outfit, since he allowed himself to be taken for a ride. Please tell him to take responsibility for his actions and not put the onus on others.

That surely doesn't mean that such shady outfits need to be allowed to go scot-free—I am with Ukmitra here. Please name them. And if your friend can go the whole hog, ask him to file a police complaint.

Regards,
TS

Thanks for sharing your experience. This will be helpful for others. Don't pay a fee upfront. Most employment agencies don't charge unless they actually succeed in getting you a job. Know exactly what services are being offered. The company may only provide advice or help writing a resume. Some fraudulent employment services simply sell lists of companies that they have gotten from public directories. They may not have contacted those companies directly or know if there are really any job openings.

Is the Company Registered?

You can check the details of it on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs where you just have to give the company name, and no matches will be given if the company is not registered. Click on the below link provided to check for registration. MCA21 : Check Company or LLP Name

Regards,
Narayan
[Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Thanks for the reply and advice. We have already checked all of these before entering into this. There are no felonies that the consultancy has registered in LLP too. Shameless morons. Hmmm, cheating others makes them feel happy.

Someone has to put a full stop to these types of fraudulent services. I have already filed it in consumer court and even received an approval mail. Waiting for something good to happen.

Thanks & Regards,
Rekha

Dear Rekha, like others have said before me, the world is full of people trying to swindle you out of your money. It takes all types to make a world. You need to be smart enough to pick the right ones.

From your initial post, I understand that your friend made the payment online. If yes, the details of the payment should be available. Go to the bank and, if possible, get a confirmation of the credit. If the bank refuses to divulge the information, as they should, contact the police and lodge a complaint with the details of the company, giving all details of the payee's account and the name of the company. A copy of your bank statement showing the debit would help.

I would have helped, but I gave up recruitment a year ago.

Well, take care and good luck to you and your friends.

Regards,
Colonel Gahlot
TRURECRUIT