Why This Alert Is Urgent Right Now
March–May and September–October are peak placement seasons at Indian colleges. Scammers know this and dramatically increase fake internship listings during these windows. In March 2026, complaints about fake internship registration fee fraud increased by over 60% compared to February on cybercrime.gov.in.
These scams specifically target first and second-year students who are eager for their first internship, may be less experienced at verifying companies, and are under social pressure to secure placements.
🔴 Key Rule — Commit This to Memory
Legitimate companies NEVER charge candidates to hire them. Registration fees, background check fees, laptop deposits, training fees, ID verification fees, and joining fees are all scam red flags. If a company asks you to pay anything before starting work, walk away and report it.
How the Scam Works
Step 1 — The Listing: You find a posting on LinkedIn, Instagram, a WhatsApp group, or a job board like Internshala or Naukri. The listing looks professional, promises a good stipend (₹10,000–₹25,000/month), and is supposedly from a recognisable company or a startup with a convincing website.
Step 2 — The Interview: You apply and quickly receive a response — often within hours. A "HR representative" contacts you via WhatsApp or email. They may conduct a quick, easy "interview" over WhatsApp chat or ask you to fill in a Google Form. The "selection" process is suspiciously fast.
Step 3 — The Offer Letter: You receive a professional-looking offer letter (often a doctored copy of a real company's letter) with a start date, stipend amount, and job description. At this point, everything feels real.
Step 4 — The Fee: Just before the "onboarding," you're told you need to pay a fee to proceed. Common justifications include: "We need to run a background verification — ₹999," "Your ID card will be couriered to you — deposit ₹1,500," "All selected interns must complete a 2-day paid orientation — ₹3,000," "Register on our HR portal — ₹499."
Step 5 — The Vanish: After you pay, contact stops. Calls go unanswered, the WhatsApp number gets blocked, and the website may disappear. Your money is gone.
Platforms Being Exploited
- LinkedIn: Fake company pages and fake employee profiles posting internship listings. LinkedIn's verification is not foolproof.
- Instagram: Accounts with a few hundred followers posting carousel-style job listings with attractive graphics
- WhatsApp Groups: Links shared in college group chats, often forwarded multiple times to appear credible
- Email: Bulk emails sent to students scraped from college websites, hackathon registrations, or LinkedIn
- Job Boards: Fake listings on legitimate job boards — these platforms try to remove them, but they appear and reappear constantly
⚠ Companies Most Commonly Impersonated
Scammers frequently impersonate: Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Deloitte, KPMG, McKinsey, startups with generic tech-sounding names, and NGOs. The impersonation often involves a fake version of a real company's logo and offer letter template.
How to Verify a Job or Internship Offer
- Check the email domain. A legitimate company will have a company domain email (e.g., @infosys.com), not Gmail or Yahoo. A fake may use something like hr.infosys@gmail.com.
- Search the company on MCA (Ministry of Corporate Affairs) at mca.gov.in. All registered companies in India have a CIN. If you can't find it, be suspicious.
- Call the company's official number — found on their official website (type the URL directly in your browser, don't click links in the job posting) — and ask if they have you listed as a selected candidate.
- Search the job posting online — paste the job description or key phrases into Google to see if it shows up elsewhere, which may indicate a copied or fake posting.
- Ask to speak to someone over video call using a verified company email. Legitimate companies can do this. Scammers usually cannot or will make excuses.
✅ Safe Platforms for Internship Search
Use official platforms like Internshala, LinkedIn (with verification), NAUKRI, and your college's official placement portal. Always access company websites directly — never through links in messages. And remember: no legitimate opportunity requires upfront payment.
What to Do If You've Been Scammed
If you paid a fee and are now unable to reach the recruiter:
- Do not pay any additional amounts, even if pressured
- Take screenshots of all messages, emails, and the offer letter immediately
- Report to cybercrime.gov.in — select "Online Job Fraud" as the category
- Call 1930 if payment was made via UPI in the last few hours — swift reporting can help freeze the transaction
- Report the fake LinkedIn page or Instagram account directly to the platform
- Warn your college group chats so others don't fall for the same scam