What are the red flags of this scam?

Any upfront fee called a 'security deposit', 'training fee', 'laptop lease', 'background verification charge', or 'joining fee' — legitimate IT employers never charge candidates • Company office is in Pune's Kharadi, Baner, or Hinjawadi area but is unverifiable on LinkedIn or Glassdoor and has only a few months of review history • You are promised placement with named MNCs (TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Accenture) but your actual offer letter is from a different company you have never heard of • Salary payments stop after 1–3 months and the company stops responding; co-workers also haven't been paid • Job ad appeared on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn with generic phrases like 'No experience needed' or 'Immediate joiners required'

What should I do if this happened to me?

Verify any company's MCA registration at https://www.mca.gov.in/mcafoportal/viewCompanyMasterData.do — a registration number alone does not mean the company is legitimate • Search Glassdoor and Ambition Box for reviews before paying any deposit; if no reviews exist the company is new or fake • Never pay any upfront fee — all legitimate IT companies and all legitimate placement agencies in India charge only the employer, never the candidate • If you already paid and are not being placed, file a complaint at the nearest Cyber Crime police station and also with your state's labour commissioner for unpaid wages • Contact FITE (Forum for IT Employees and Freshers) at their official social media channels for collective action support • Report at https://cybercrime.gov.in or call 1930 (national cyber helpline).

HIGH job Last reported: 7 Sept 2026 Share

Fake IT placement agency or company collects lakhs in fees then disappears

Q: Is this a scam?

Yes. This is a documented scam pattern. A fake IT company or placement agent collects ₹15,000–₹3.5 lakh from freshers promising top IT firm placements, then vanishes or withholds salaries. Over 4,000 complaints filed with FITE in 2026.

A fake IT company or placement agent collects ₹15,000–₹3.5 lakh from freshers promising top IT firm placements, then vanishes or withholds salaries. Over 4,000 complaints filed with FITE in 2026.

Also known as: fake IT placement consultant, Pune IT job scam, fake software company job fraud, ThynkTech scam, fake IT internship fee fraud

Already happened to you? Do this in the next few minutes

Call 1930 now

1 Call 1930 — the national cyber-crime helpline — right now. The sooner you report, the better the chance of freezing the money before it moves.
2 Call your bank to freeze the account and block the card immediately. Use the number printed on your card, never a number from the message or caller.
3 File a report at cybercrime.gov.in and keep every message, screenshot, and transaction ID.

What to do right now

1 Verify any company's MCA registration at https://www.mca.gov.in/mcafoportal/viewCompanyMasterData.do — a registration number alone does not mean the company is legitimate
2 Search Glassdoor and Ambition Box for reviews before paying any deposit; if no reviews exist the company is new or fake
3 Never pay any upfront fee — all legitimate IT companies and all legitimate placement agencies in India charge only the employer, never the candidate
4 If you already paid and are not being placed, file a complaint at the nearest Cyber Crime police station and also with your state's labour commissioner for unpaid wages
5 Contact FITE (Forum for IT Employees and Freshers) at their official social media channels for collective action support
6 Report at https://cybercrime.gov.in or call 1930 (national cyber helpline).

Red flags

⚠ Any upfront fee called a 'security deposit', 'training fee', 'laptop lease', 'background verification charge', or 'joining fee' — legitimate IT employers never charge candidates
⚠ Company office is in Pune's Kharadi, Baner, or Hinjawadi area but is unverifiable on LinkedIn or Glassdoor and has only a few months of review history
⚠ You are promised placement with named MNCs (TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Accenture) but your actual offer letter is from a different company you have never heard of
⚠ Salary payments stop after 1–3 months and the company stops responding; co-workers also haven't been paid
⚠ Job ad appeared on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn with generic phrases like 'No experience needed' or 'Immediate joiners required'

Known variants

ThynkTech vanishing act (Apr 2026): registered Pune IT company employed 700+ engineers and interns for months, then disappeared overnight without paying Jan–Apr 2026 salaries or returning ₹15,000 security deposits.

Last seen: 9/7/2026
Radiant Technology placement fee (2026): placement consultancy collects ₹1–2 lakh per candidate promising MNC placement; 1,000+ victims; owner arrested by Pune police. No actual placement ever provided.

Last seen: 9/7/2026

Already happened to you? Do this in the next few minutes

What to do right now

Red flags

Known variants

Sources