How a fake job agency in Bengaluru cheated 300 unskilled workers in TN

As many as 300 unskilled workers from Tamil Nadu seeking employment in foreign countries have been duped of lakhs of rupees by a fake job agency in Bengaluru.

A police complaint has been filed against Just Set Journeys, which appears to have disappeared seemingly without trace after collecting from each victim at least Rs 1.5 lakh, and in some cases more. The victims allege that the company collected more than Rs 5 crore from the workers in Tamil Nadu alone and also from many others from Kerala, Karnataka, West Bengal and other places.

The agency had assured all of them unskilled job placements with attractive salaries in Austria, Luxembourg, Ireland and other countries.

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Organised cheating

After seeing job advertisements on Facebook and Instagram, several job seekers aged 22-40 made enquiries with Just Set Journeys. The job consultancy service even had positive reviews on Google.

But one day, it simply shut down its office in Bengaluru without any information and cut all points of contact.

Sometimes, workers are sent abroad on tourist visas. They realise too late that they have been scammed, and their visa doesn’t permit employment.

"I enquired with its executives about updates on my application for an opportunity in Luxembourg a day before the company shut the office,” Seelan, one of the victims, told The Federal. "I had paid Rs 1.5 lakh for the process. It was a shock to me as they seemed quite genuine during the documentation and registration process, and sent updates over mail for each process," he said.

The agency's modus operandi involved conducting medical tests and collecting documents, including signed agreements on stamp papers, and cheques. All this gave the process a touch of authenticity.

Easy targets

Having finished his B Com, Jayasurya, 23, was hunting for an accounting job. As nothing came his way, Just Set Journeys' advertisement looked like a perfect opportunity. The company suggested that he take up a job available in Austria and later switch to his desired field.

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Jayasurya, a resident of Dharmapuri, told The Federal: "The agency promised a salary of Rs 1.5-2 lakh in Austria for a warehouse job in February. I applied for it. The next day, the office was gone."

“I was wary of cyber job scams. But since I went to Bengaluru and met the agency executives, I trusted them and ended up losing Rs 1.5 lakh,” he added.

Unemployed youths in the rural districts of Tamil Nadu, like Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri and Ranipet, not well-versed in overseas job-finding processes, become easy targets for fraudulent agencies. Often, they take loans to pay the agencies, thereby worsening their financial situation.

In this case, some victims were asked to pay twice after being told that their applications needed to be updated and that their previous application had been rejected. The company assured the applicants that they would receive their offer letters in two or three months. None of this happened.

Resigned, lost money

Imran S, 35, has filed a complaint against the agency's owner and its representatives. He claimed that he was misled by the agency's ads and paid Rs 1.5 lakh for job placement and visa processing.

"They promised me a genuine job opportunity. I trusted their claims and resigned from my existing job. After the first application and medical tests, I was told I need to pay Rs 1.5 lakh more as my application had been rejected," he recalled.

Fraudulent companies often have a network operating from a far away geographical location. They even have a network abroad to con people in India,

Like others, Imran too suddenly stopped hearing from the agency one day. The victims have filed a complaint with the Bengaluru city police seeking intervention in recovering their money. Additionally, they have sought better regulations to prevent such scams.

"We want an immediate investigation into Just Set Journeys and its fraudulent activities," Imran told The Federal.

Vigilance needed

The incidents highlight the need for stricter regulations and oversight of job agencies. In the absence of a Migrant Resource Centre for workers in Tamil Nadu, such scams have become quite common.

Emphasising on strict regulations for advertisements and registration of job consultancies, M Valarmathi, chief functionary of the Tamil Nadu Domestic Workers Welfare Trust, said workers often got cheated.

"The workers in unskilled sectors are unable to verify such job opportunities for authenticity. They accept the terms laid out by the job agencies out of desperation but they lose their hard-earned money,” she told The Federal.

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Valarmathi said sometimes workers were sent abroad on tourist visas. The workers realise too late that they have been scammed, and their visa doesn’t permit employment.

Action not taken

There are about 18 lakh unskilled workers in Tamil Nadu, which has an unemployment rate of about 2.5 per cent. The remittances from skilled and unskilled workers from the state working abroad stand at about Rs 40,000 crore.

With an increasing number of job seekers looking for jobs outside India, the number of frauds related to overseas recruitment consultancies has also seen a surge. Rajkumar M, Protector of Emigrants, Tamil Nadu, said several scams go unreported because people do not want to go through the formal process.

In 2024, around 40 complaints were lodged against job scammers, up from 25 in 2023 and 22 in 2022. Till date in 2025, complaints have been made against nine such agents.

Rajkumar told The Federal job agencies scamming individuals from other states is becoming rampant. "Such fraudulent companies have a network operating from a geographical location far away from the targeted individuals. They even have a network abroad to con people in India," he said.

Awareness campaign

The Ministry of External Affairs is organising awareness campaigns to educate unskilled workers on emigration processes, he said that.

There are approximately 200 registered job agencies in Tamil Nadu and about 2,000 in the country, he further said. "The website emigrate.gov.in is the safest for reference and individuals interested in migrating to the Middle East can check if the agency recruiting them is licensed or not. Additionally, they should ensure that they are issued work visa and not a tourist visa," he added.