What is a Phishing attack? You must be wondering about it after getting to know about Nidhi Razdan’s Harvard University case who is a former NDTV executive editor. Let’s have a look at this online scam job scam, which is also called Phishing attack!
What is a Phishing attack?
So, a Phishing attack is nothing but a kind of online fraud which takes place by sending emails or communicating to prospective person and making them believe that they are from a certain organisation or Company. Once the person who has been approached by scammers believes in their authenticity of the job offer, he/she discloses a few personal pieces of information which directly goes to the spammer that can create certain problems in the future for the person being scammed.
These kinds of online jobs scams are quite common in India on a certain job hunt sites where fake job offers are posted and scammers after that approach the applicants and they believe that they are from a certain organization and they would like to schedule an interview with him/her if they will pay a certain amount of money.
Some people believe in the authenticity of the offer by adapting a few techniques like making E-mail IDs similar to that of the respective real Company or organisation. Most of the innocent people generally fall prey to these frauds by believing in them and pay the adequate money asked by scammers but later they get to know that it was nothing but a SCAM!
Just like Nidhi Razdan who realised that she has fallen into the trap of “sophisticated and coordinated phishing attack.”
How did Nidhi Razdan fell into the trap of online scam?
Nidhi Razdan, on 15th of January 2021, took to social media to inform that she had fallen prey to an elaborated/sophisticated online fraud that made her resign from her current job as an anchor in NDTV ( New Delhi Television Ltd., where she had worked for more than 21 years ) and accepted a teaching position at Harvard University, USA. This job which is a hoax according to her has now turned out to be non-existent.
She was given an offer to join Ivy league institute as an associate professor in June, which she was supposed to join in September during the semester beginning.
But she couldn’t join it at that time, due to Covid Pandemic. She was made to believe that postponement of dates from September to January 2021, has just happened due to strict Covid Protocol. But when she had finally reached out to authorities to join the university she realised that the offer was nothing but an online scam. It turned out to be fake and she did not have any official job offer from Harvard University to join as their Associate professor of Journalism in the faculty of Arts and Sciences.
“I have been the victim of a very serious phishing attack. I’m putting this statement out to set the record straight about what I’ve been through. I will not be addressing this issue any further on social media.” She took to Twitter to address the whole issue.
How did it start?
Late 2020 on 13th of June, she had tweeted informing the mob about her new beginning, “Some personal and professional news: after 21 years at NDTV, I am changing direction and moving on. Later this year, I start as an Associate Professor teaching journalism as part of Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences”
So many renowned personalities of India anchors and a few politicians had also congratulated her on this new beginning of her life, but alas, little did they know that is was nothing but a hoax!
Now, what will she do next?
“The perpetrators of this attack used clever forgeries and misinterpretations to access my data and communications, and may have also gained access to my devices and my email/social media accounts,” She issued a statement letting others know what happened to her. This was a very sensitive issue because her privacy was at stake that’s why she has lodged a complaint in Police station and has provided them with all the mandatory documents as a form of evidence.
“I have requested them to take immediate steps to identify, apprehend and prosecute the perpetrators of this abominable attack. Separately, I have written to the Harvard University authorities and urged them to take the matter seriously. I hope that the police can get to the bottom of this attack on me at the earliest and help me bring this unsavoury incident to a swift end” She wrote on Twitter and gave a brief account of it on 15th of January 2021!
Along with filing a complaint in the Police station, she had also written to various organisations, authorities and individuals she has been in touch with for the last few months after getting the fake job offer. Wherever the case be but, all the people out there need to take a serious lesson from this whole farrago.
A renowned and well-educated journalist like Nidhi Razdan falling into the trap of online job scams like this is an eye-opener for many. Everyone must be careful and concerned while dealing with such a situation.
