How to check an employer is genuine
Company asli hai ya nahi — kaise pata kare.
Check the company
Company ko check karo.
Start with the name, exactly as written to you. Search it on its own, then again with the word "fraud". Look for a website, a listing with an address, or any trace of the business existing before this week.
Watch the spelling. A frequent trick is a name one letter away from a company you already trust, which reads correctly at a glance and belongs to somebody else entirely.
Check the place
Jagah ko check karo.
Ask for the full office address and put it into a map. Look at the street view if there is one. A business that hires people has somewhere those people go.
If the answer is that the interview is at a different address from the office, or in a place that has nothing to do with the work, treat that as an answer in itself.
- Tell someone you trust where you are going and when
- Go during the day, and do not go alone to a residential address
- Carry copies, never originals, of any document you are asked to bring
- Never hand over your original Aadhaar, PAN, marksheet or passport to be "kept safe"
Check the person
Insaan ko check karo.
Ask for their name, their role, and a company email address. Then send one short message to that email and see whether it exists and whether it replies from the same domain as the company website.
A recruiter working for a real employer can do all of this in a minute. One who cannot is telling you something without meaning to.
Check the offer
Offer ko check karo.
Ask for the salary in writing, along with the deductions, the working hours, the weekly off and who pays for the uniform. Vague answers to specific questions are the point at which most people already know, and go anyway.
And the rule that overrides every other check on this page: if money is asked for at any stage, stop. No amount of verification makes a fee acceptable, because a genuine employer never charges the person it is hiring.
Common questions
How do I know if a company hiring me is real?
Search the name with the word "fraud", check the office address on a map, ask for a company email address and write to it, and get the salary and deductions in writing. A real employer clears all four easily.
Should I give my original documents to an employer?
No. Carry copies. No employer needs to keep your original Aadhaar, PAN, marksheet or passport, and originals held by someone else are very hard to get back.
Is it safe to interview at a residential address?
Be careful. Go during the day, never alone, and tell someone you trust where you are and when. A business that hires people usually has a place of business.