Every year, imposters claiming to represent large IT companies lure gullible candidates into paying between Rs 8,000 and Rs 1 lakh as a ‘deposit’ to fill a “vacancy”. Now, software companies are deploying new technology to deter the fraudsters.

TCS, Cognizant Technology Solutions and Tech Mahindra now have digital signatures to distinguish their offer letters from fake ones.

Cognizant has a Quick Response (QR) code on its letters. This code can be decrypted only by the company, says Sriram Rajagopal, Vice-President, HR. It is also setting up a hologram-based verification system for offer letters.

Says Ajoy Mukherjee, Executive Vice-President and Global HR Head at TCS: “The practice of printing the QR code on offer letters is a new one for us. Once the code is scanned, the TCS server verifies if the letter is valid. It is a near-foolproof system of authentication.”

TCS is also putting out advertisements in regional newspapers to educate job seekers on fake offers, he said. Companies are making it clear that they do not charge money to hire people.

The fake job racket hit the headlines last month when Tech Mahindra realised that nearly 50 people were conned by a gang about landing jobs with it. These candidates had paid upwards of Rs 9,000.

Sensing that this was a nationwide racket, Tech Mahindra filed First Information Reports at police stations in Pune, Noida and Hyderabad, said Sunil Sanger, Chief Risk Officer, speaking to Business Line. “We are implementing technology solutions to make our offer letters more secure,” he added.

The biggest challenge in policing efforts is that many of these racketeers are tech-savvy, said Sanger.

Smaller firms such as Blue Star Infotech are also not taking any chances. “To avoid any such instance, all recruitments are done by our HR teams. We use external channels only to source resumes,” says Sunil Bhatia, Blue Star Info’s CEO and Managing Director.

> adith.charlie@thehindu.co.in

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