Fake Aussie officials extort Indian jobseekers

Updated

Criminals posing as officials from the Australian High Commission in New Delhi have tried to extort thousands of dollars from job applicants.

The con artists pretended to be senior immigration officials from the visa office and demanded thousands of dollars in bribes from applicants seeking jobs at the High Commission.

The Australian High Commission in New Delhi has confirmed it has investigated the employment scam and none of its staff were involved.

One of the victims of the scam, Vijay Joshi, has been left shattered and jobless and says Australian officials have treated him like garbage.

He says he was devastated when he found out he had been fooled by the scammers.

"I was shattered. I was completely destroyed," he said.

Mr Joshi was working for a call centre in New Delhi when he met a man on a company training course who told him some jobs were coming up at the Australian High Commission.

Mr Joshi lodged his application on August 24 for a legitimate job vacancy as a senior visa officer, but somehow scam artists got his phone number and email address and started making contact, pretending to be Australian officials from the High Commission.

They sent a text message to Mr Joshi claiming they had fixed the selection process so he would get the job.

"Everything has been done now. Interview is just formality," the message said.

The ABC's PM program has obtained dozens of emails, letters and text messages sent by the scammers.

The scammers promised Mr Joshi would get a car, luxury house and even Australian citizenship when he took up the position.

"So now you can go anytime, anywhere in Australia. From now you will be called as visa officer with all authorities. Congrats," a message said.

Members of the syndicate used the false names Lachlen Cotton and Nuvan Djikovic and claimed to be senior officials from the Australian High Commission's visa office.

They even sent a fake air ticket to Mr Joshi, saying he would be flown to Mumbai for training.

But there was a catch. The fictitious Mr Cotton and Mr Djikovic wanted money.

Mr Joshi says they demanded 200,000 Indian rupees ($3,900) to guarantee the job at the High Commission.

"He asked me but I challenged him because I was sure this was not true, this was not genuine," he said.

Mr Joshi decided not to pay and instead started asking questions.

He contacted compliance officers from the Department of Immigration who told him the messages he had received were part of a scam.

The compliance team confirmed there were no staff members by the name of Nuvan Djikovic and Lachlen Cotton.

It is unclear whether the scammers were trying to clone the name of the real life Deputy High Commissioner Lachlan Strachan who had no involvement in the scam.

Left jobless

Mr Joshi says he was devastated by the revelations as he had already resigned from his previous job because he thought he was about to start his work at the High Commission.

"I left that job, I left my promotion only for this job," he said.

Mr Joshi is angry that the Australian High Commission did not inform him sooner that his job application had been unsuccessful.

He says if he had been informed he would have known earlier that the messages and promises from the scammers were fake.

"If they would [have] informed that I had been not selected I could not have been cheated by these people," he said.

The con artists not only pretended to be Australian visa officials, they sent letters and emails with a forged copy of the High Commission logo.

A spokesman for the High Commission in Delhi confirmed to PM that the scam has been investigated.

"A thorough internal investigation found there was no substance to the allegation that an employment scam was being run from within the Australian High Commission," the spokesman said.

But Mr Joshi says that does not make sense and he wants to know how the con artists obtained his phone and email contacts when he lodged his job application.

Treated like 'garbage'

After reporting the scam to Australian officials Mr Joshi applied for another job at the High Commission.

On November 4 he was selected to take a written test but was unsuccessful.

The High Commission says the process was fair, but Mr Joshi fears he was knocked back because he was a whistleblower.

"And I have been thrown [out] like garbage," he said.

Three of his colleagues were also tricked by the con artists.

Mr Joshi says the Australian Government should take action against the ringleader of the racket.

"He should be punished so that he cannot ask more people to give money and he will fix a job for them. But they have not taken any action," he said.

Mr Joshi has reported the matter to the commissioner of Delhi Police but the case is yet to be formally registered.

Topics: fraud-and-corporate-crime, law-crime-and-justice, crime, india, australia

First posted