Who wants real marks when a bogus certificate can land you a job with one of the country's leading IT firms? MiD DAY reporter Amit Singh procured a counterfeit marksheet and got the offer letter too
Who wants real marks when a bogus certificate can land you a job with one of the country's leading IT firms? MiD DAY reporter Amit Singh procured a counterfeit marksheet and got the offer letter too
Faking it was never this easy and had never produced such fabulous results. During a covert mission to land a job with the help of fake educational certificates, I found out how professional and well oiled the duplicate degree machinery in the Capital was. And how this industry could be misused by unscrupulous elements, including terrorists, to gain ground in the city.
|
|
Fake-off: Amit Singh with a fake statement of marks from Delhi University in his left hand and the job offer letter from the IT firm in his right. pic/Rajeev Tyagi |
Time for actionI skimmed through the bylanes of South Delhi's crowded Munirka market and found my way into a tiny shop tucked away in a corner Sonu Cyber Cafe one of the many operators of the Capital's flourishing counterfeit certificate business. I was warmly welcomed by two smartly dressed men in twenties and promised, "whatever I wanted". "No haggling please, it's a risky business," they said before I initiated the conversation.
Within minutes they told me they could give me what I needed to land a job: a provisional certificate of graduation and a Final Year university marksheet. The false scores and formats were discussed and the warnings marked out clearly: "Yeh certificates kisi local corporate company mein job ke liye daudega, lekin aage padhai ya sarkari naukri ke liye istemal mat karnau2026 panga ho sakta hai (The certificates will work when you're trying to find a job in a local corporate firm, but don't use them for higher studies or government openings; you may land in trouble)." I was asked to return a day later for the certificates.
The next afternoon, I arrived at the shop and within minutes became a Khalsa College (evening) passout with an aggregate score of 55 per cent in Commerce. All I had to produce were a forged electricity bill as residential proof and a phony reference.u00a0 The bill: a meager Rs 3,500.
Job hunt
Armed with the counterfeits, I approached a leading South Delhi placement firm to find me a job with a BPO.
The company's experts examined my curriculum vitae and certificates and I passed the test with flying colours.
No attestations asked for, no crosschecks run. Within a few days, I received a call from an executive of the placement firm, asking me to report for a screening test at one of the country's most reputed IT firms with its office at Okhla Phase III. (The name of the IT company is being withheld on request).
Got it!
After a series of language, aptitude and other tests, I was chosen from a list of 70 other candidates. Even the interviewing board at the company did not bother to verify the authenticity of what was conveniently presented before them. All was stamped okay and I was seen off with beatific smiles. A day later, I effortlessly cleared the second round of interview too. My credentials were checked. "Looking forward to your joining on Saturday (August 1). Don't forget the sweets," said one of the call centre trainers.
After two days, I attended the firm's induction session and was handed over the appointment letter with the post of associate customer executive and a salary package of Rs 1,73,500 per annum (including incentives).
BPOs say its 'common'
|
|
Easy access: The fake marksheet (above) and the detailed appointment letter (below) |
When confronted with this gross negligence, officials at the human resource (HR) departments of BPOs said fake certificates are a common problem. "Every day we have to verify the background of around 30 candidates.
We generally crosscheck their educational certificates, experience certificates and criminal background. The process takes about ten days. We come across two to three fake certificates every day, mostly college degrees, " said Sanket Mishra from credit rating agency Onicra that runs background checks for the BPO, Genpact.
Telecom outsourcing firm Tech Mahindra too has hired two private agencies for background verification of candidates chosen. An HR professional of the company said, "We give utmost important to verification of educational certificates. Earlier we used to issue appointment letters before verification but we discontinued this practice recently. Now, we issue offer letters after the verification is over."
When contacted, the HR officials of the reputed IT firm which had given me the job said they were shocked. "We always crosscheck backgrounds of candidates before hiring them. And this is a serious slip-up," they said.
'Helpless' law
When legal experts were contacted, they said there are no laws to stop this practice. Ashok Agarwal, a Delhi high court advocate, said, "Faking certificates is a very common practice and there are no laws to stop it. You can obtain a fake certificate from anywhere in Delhi at very affordable rates. These certificates are often produced to find a job. Approximately 30 per cent of all the certificates provided are fake and most of these go unreported but the serious problem is that a terrorist may use the job to gain ground in the city."
As for police action, the fraudsters are safe. "Police toh apni tarah hi hai, sir.
Saari duniya apni tarah hai. Hum yahaan saalon se hain; koi kuch nahi karta humein (the police is just like us, and so is the rest of the world. We've been here since years; no one has been a threat)," said one of the fake certificate producers.
