New Delhi: Seven people, including four women who allegedly posed as HR executives at a fake placement agency, have been arrested for allegedly duping job seekers by promising employment and collecting registration and processing fees, police said Tuesday.The accused allegedly operated an unregistered placement agency from Uttam Nagar. Police identified them as alleged mastermind Preeti Malhotra, four HR executives — Divya, Lalita, Naina and Priyanka — and two field staffers, Kapil Kumar Sharma and Lalit Kumar.The case came to light after a Karol Bagh resident complained that he received a message from a person claiming to be an HR executive in response to a job application. He was called for an interview at the agency’s office, where he was allegedly asked to pay Rs 4,800 towards registration and account-opening charges with the assurance that the amount would be refunded after he joined the job. However, neither was any job provided nor was the money refunded, police said.DCP (central) Rohit Rajbir Singh said, “During the investigation, police analysed mobile numbers, UPI payment trails and beneficiary bank accounts before raiding the office in Uttam Nagar, where the agency was found to be operating without registration.”According to police, the accused advertised vacancies on online job portals and contacted unemployed youths through WhatsApp and phone calls while posing as HR executives. After conducting sham interviews, they allegedly informed candidates that they had been selected and collected Rs 3,000-4,800 as registration charges, promising refunds after joining. The victims were then allegedly neither given jobs nor their money back.The cops said mobile phones, registration forms and payment records were seized during the raid. Investigators also linked five complaints on National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal to the mobile numbers and bank accounts allegedly used by the accused.
