Field guide
How to check if a company is real before you accept (India)
Check five things: the company is on the MCA registry, its website and careers page list the job, the recruiter's email uses the company's own domain, the company has a real LinkedIn presence, and the domain is not brand new.
The five checks
1. MCA registry. Search the exact company name in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs company master data. Registered companies have a CIN. Note that a registered shell company can still scam, so this check alone is not enough.
2. Official website and careers page. Find the website yourself through a search engine, not through a link in the message. See whether the same role is listed.
3. Email domain. A recruiter at a real company writes from its own domain. Gmail, Yahoo, or a domain that differs by a letter or hyphen from the real one is a red flag.
4. LinkedIn. Real companies have employees, history and posts. Check that the recruiter's profile exists and matches the company.
5. Domain age. A scam domain is often only weeks old. A public lookup (RDAP or WHOIS) shows when a domain was registered. This tool does that for domains it finds in your message.
If something does not match
Contact the company through the number or email on its official website and ask if the offer is genuine. Do not use contact details from the message itself.
If you've been scammed
- Call 1930 (national cyber crime helpline) immediately if money was lost.
- Report at cybercrime.gov.in and tell your bank at once.