How to Verify a Recruiter or a Recruitment Email in India

What a genuine recruiter looks like

A real recruiter has a verifiable employer, contacts you about a specific role, communicates through official channels, and never asks you to pay. They may work directly for the company or for a staffing agency the company has hired. Either way, their income comes from the employer, and their message reads like someone doing a normal job: specific, professional, and patient with your questions.

Verifying one takes ten minutes and is worth doing before you share a single document. The checks below apply whether the contact arrived by email, a messaging app or a phone call.

Step 1: Check the email domain carefully

The part after the @ sign is the most reliable clue. Compare it letter by letter with the company's official website address.

• Lookalike domains add a word or change a character, for example a company name followed by "-careers" or "-hr", or a letter swapped for one that looks similar. If the official site is at one address and the email comes from a slightly different one, treat it as fake until proven otherwise.
• Free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo or Outlook are a red flag when the sender claims to represent an established company. Small firms and independent recruiters sometimes use them, so verify by other means rather than assuming.
• Display names can be faked. An email can show a company name while the actual address underneath is unrelated. Open the full sender address.
• Check the reply address. Some scam emails show one sender but send your reply somewhere else.

Step 2: Look up the person

Search for the recruiter's name on a professional network. Look for a profile that has existed for some time, lists the company they claim to work for, has a consistent work history, and connects to other people at that company. Be cautious of a profile that is very new, has few connections, uses a generic photo, or does not appear on the company's own page among its employees. None of these alone proves a fake, but several together should stop you.

Step 3: Confirm through the company, not through the recruiter

This is the check scammers cannot get around. Find the company's phone number or HR email on its official website, not in the message you received, and ask them to confirm that the person exists and that the role is genuine. Also confirm the role appears on the company's careers page; our guide to checking a company's official careers page explains how. This is the same independent check described in how to verify a job offer.

Step 4: Read the message itself

Usually genuine	Suspicious
Addresses you by name and mentions a specific role and how they found you	Opens with "Dear candidate" and could be sent to anyone
Explains the process: screening, interviews, timeline	Says you are "shortlisted" or "selected" for a job you never applied to
Has a proper signature with name, title and company	Promises very high pay for little work, or a guaranteed job
Gives you time to respond	Demands an answer or a payment within hours
Asks for a resume and availability	Asks for bank details, an OTP, card information or Aadhaar copies at the first contact

Links, attachments and apps

Do not click links or open attachments in a message you have not verified. Hover over a link to see where it really goes before clicking, and be wary of shortened links. Never install an app, or download a file with an unusual ending, because a recruiter asks you to. Genuine recruiters use email, calls or the company's own portal. If you are asked to fill in a form, check that it is on the company's official domain.

Recruitment agencies and consultants

Staffing and recruitment agencies are a normal part of hiring, and many are legitimate. The test is the same as for any recruiter. Ask which company the role is for and get the job description in writing. Confirm the agency exists and the company works with it. Above all, a reputable agency is paid by the employer; if it asks you for a registration fee or a "placement" fee, walk away. Read whether you should ever pay money for a job.

If a message looks suspicious

1. Do not reply, click links, or open attachments.
2. Mark it as spam or phishing in your email app so it is filtered for others.
3. If you have lost money, call the national helpline 1930 and report at cybercrime.gov.in as soon as possible.
4. If the message misuses a real company's name, tell that company through its official contact details.

For a wider list of red flags, see our scam awareness page.

A quick checklist

• Does the email domain exactly match the company's official domain?
• Does the recruiter's profile check out, and does the company confirm them?
• Is the role on the company's careers page?
• Has anyone asked for money, an OTP, bank details or card information?
• Is there pressure to decide quickly or to move the conversation to a private chat?

If any answer is wrong, pause. It costs nothing to check first.