Short answer: Recent police cases in India show the same pattern: fake offer letters and work permits for Europe, upfront fees from candidates, and recruitment that bypassed India's legal clearances. For EU employers the risk is real too: candidates who never arrive, and your company's name attached to a scam. Hiring only through verified, licensed Indian agencies reduces both.
What happened in the four recent cases?
Between September and October 2026, police and a state body in India reported four cases that involved promised jobs or work permits abroad, most of them in Europe. The details below come from the police accounts reported in each source. They are allegations, not court findings.
Ahmedabad. A visa consultant filed a complaint saying he and 18 of his clients were cheated of ₹12.1 lakh over promised work permits for Finland. According to the complaint, the receipts, migration letters, embassy appointment schedules and Finnish residence documents they were given were fake (Times of India, 23 Oct 2026).
Chennai. Police arrested two men who allegedly ran a fake overseas recruitment agency that cheated more than 60 people of about ₹75 lakh with promises of jobs abroad. The complainant was promised a job in a European country, paid ₹5 lakh and received a fake offer letter. The agency found him through an Instagram advertisement (The Hindu, 15 Oct 2026).
Kochi. Police arrested the head of an agency that advertised jobs in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Armenia and Russia. Police said the agency held a recruitment permit registered in Thiruvananthapuram, but that its branches, including the Kochi office, had no clearance from the Protector of Emigrants, and that no demand letters or powers of attorney had been uploaded to eMigrate, India's emigration portal. Applicants reportedly paid between ₹1.5 lakh and more than ₹10 lakh, and police believe victims across Kerala could exceed 300. One candidate paid more than ₹6 lakh for a warehouse job in Poland and was allegedly sent to Serbia instead and left there. Most applicants never boarded a flight (Onmanorama, 28 Sep 2026).
Kerala. The state's NRI Commission said it had received 268 complaints so far this year, and that more than 30% of the complaints under consideration concern financial fraud, including promises of work visas and jobs abroad. It urged job seekers to use only recognised recruitment agencies (The Hindu, 9 Sep 2026).
What do these cases have in common?
The cases share four features: forged documents, large fees paid upfront by candidates, destinations sold as "Europe" in general, and skipped steps in India's legal recruitment process.
- Forged paperwork. Offer letters, work permits, residence documents and embassy appointments were fake, according to police.
- Upfront fees. Candidates paid lakhs of rupees before any genuine employer had confirmed a job.
- Broad destinations. Several countries were advertised at once, which suggests no real employer stood behind each vacancy.
- Gaps in the legal recruitment trail. In the Kochi case, the agency held a registered recruitment permit, but police said its branches lacked Protector of Emigrants clearance and the demand letters and powers of attorney India requires had not been uploaded to eMigrate (Onmanorama, 28 Sep 2026).
Most Indian recruitment agencies work legally. These cases are a minority, but they show where the gaps are.
Why is this an employer problem as well?
Fraud aimed at candidates also costs employers, even when the employer did nothing wrong. The main risks are:
- No-shows. A candidate who paid a fraudulent intermediary may never arrive, or may arrive with documents that do not hold up.
- Wasted fees and time. Permit applications, interviews and onboarding effort are lost when a recruitment chain collapses.
- Reputational risk. Your company's name or a real vacancy can be copied into fake offer letters without your knowledge.
- Compliance exposure. Some EU countries set their own rules for how foreign workers may be recruited. Check the rules for the country you hire in, including Romania's GEO 32/2026 agency rules.
What should you check before accepting candidates from an Indian agency?
Four checks cover most of the risk. Run them before any candidate is interviewed.
- Registration with India's Protector General of Emigrants. Under the Emigration Act 1983 (Section 10), anyone recruiting Indian citizens for jobs abroad must register with the Protector General of Emigrants (MEA, Recruiting Agents, live 26 Oct 2026). The Ministry of External Affairs publishes a list of active recruiting agents (MEA, Overseas Employment, list as on 8 Apr 2026). Ask for the registration certificate and check it against the list.
- A written demand letter and power of attorney from you. A legitimate agency recruits against a written mandate from the employer. In the Kochi case, police said these documents had not been uploaded to eMigrate (Onmanorama, 28 Sep 2026).
- A verified office address. MEA's guidelines require the agent to run its business from the registered premises and to get prior approval for other recruitment centres (MEA, Recruiting Agents, live 26 Oct 2026). Make sure the branch you deal with is covered.
- Document review. Have candidate documents checked before you file a permit application, not after the candidate arrives.
See how India regulates overseas recruiters.
How does hiring through Testiy work?
Testiy lets EU employers hire skilled workers from India through verified agencies only. Each agency is checked before it can list candidates: licence checked, office verified, documents reviewed. Testiy checks the agency's MEA recruiting-agent registration against the active list on eMigrate, among other checks.
Candidate documents are reviewed by an officer, including checks of police clearance certificates and apostilles, and Testiy's review specialists work from Germany. You open a verified account, publish a job, browse verified agencies and candidates, chat on Testiy, and pay when a work contract is signed. Sign-up is free: no contract, no fee.
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