THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: No need to write the PSC exam, no need to look at the rank list... If you pay Rs 5 lakh you can get a clerical job in the secretariat with a monthly salary of half a lakh. The price goes up if you desire a higher government position! It's a scam. Job fraud is on the rise within government institutions, the railways and the military. Ignoring the fact that government jobs are typically acquired through the PSC or recruitment boards people fall victim to these scams. Some people even make a substantial income by providing fake appointment letters in the name of central institutions. Young people are being ensnared by people claiming to be relatives or staff of ministers and the speaker. Recently, there was a loss of 15 crore jobs at Travancore Titanium.

Some people produce counterfeit PSC letters and send them for 'certificate verification.' This is part of the final payment scam. Fraudsters go to great lengths, even presenting themselves in police and military uniforms conducting 'interviews' on WhatsApp. They extort 17 lakhs each in the name of railway jobs, bringing young people to Chennai and subjecting them to 'fake medical' examinations. Fraud comes in many forms.

Rashmi, a native of Thrissur earned lakhs of rupees by creating a WhatsApp group for those seeking secretariat jobs. A duo defrauded Minister Balagopal's cousin out of lakhs for a secretariat job. A 27-year-old man was apprehended due to a complaint by a woman who had been scammed with a job offer at the Ernakulam Collectorate.

A Thiruvananthapuram native cheated people out of one and a half crores by promising clerk and junior engineer positions in the railways. A 24-year-old girl from Alappuzha stole 8 lakhs from two people by impersonating a soldier and offering them army jobs. A clerk offered jobs at Kerala Bank and extorted 7 lakhs from people by falsely invoking the names of CPM leaders in Palakkad. Another person defrauded the deputy mayor's personal assistant promising to make him a supervisor in the Kochi Municipal Corporation. Another person who previously failed the vehicle inspector exam paid 5.75 lakhs for the same job.

People who were duped into paying four and a half lakhs for work in Beverages and three lakhs in Milma also fell victim to fraudulent job schemes. Money chains were also used to perpetrate scams. Two women defrauded over one crore by recruiting people for government jobs promising discounts if more people were brought in to fill vacancies in the secretariat. Prices ranged from 2 to 4.5 lakhs.

Additionally, a recent scam worth 2.67 crores occurred at a railway station where people were deceived under the pretence of participating in train counting activities. The victims were Tamil youths including 24 lakhs worth of B Tech students. The train counting was believed to be training for TTE and traffic assistant jobs.