MUMBAI, May 6: Indian professionals are becoming increasingly wary of job scams, with more than 82 per cent now cautious about a role’s authenticity before applying, a report said on Wednesday.
LinkedIn’s Job Search Safety Pulse report revealed that more than half (53 per cent) are more likely to question whether a job is a scam than they were a year ago, it stated.
“Job scams are increasingly becoming a common part of the online job search experience. Our research shows that awareness among professionals is growing, but in a fast-moving and competitive market, consistently acting on that awareness can be challenging, particularly early in careers.
” Building a safer job ecosystem, therefore, requires strong safeguards, trusted signals, and shared accountability across platforms, employers and job seekers,” LinkedIn India Head – Legal and Public Policy, Aditi Jha said.
LinkedIn’s Job Search Safety Pulse report is based on inputs from 8,512 professionals (working full or part-time) across the UK, USA, India, Germany, and Brazil during March 16-30, 2026.
The report further revealed that while awareness continues to rise, the pressure to secure opportunities can sometimes override caution – especially in the early stages of a career.
It said that early-career job seekers are more vulnerable in specific moments, as more than half (54 per cent) of Gen Z job-seekers admit they have overlooked warning signs when opportunities felt too important to pass up.
Nearly half (49 per cent) of Indian Gen Z professionals said they have come close to falling for a job scam, compared to 36 per cent of Gen X, pointing to higher exposure to scam-related situations among younger job-seekers, it stated.
The moments when professionals report feeling most concerned about scams are while browsing roles (20 per cent) or during initial outreach from a recruiter or company (18 per cent), when details are limited and trust has not yet been established, it said.
LinkedIn data showed that scammers frequently exploit these early moments by attempting to move conversations off trusted platforms.
About 90 per cent of reported scam attempts redirect members to personal messaging apps, where accounts are harder to verify and conversations feel more informal, the report added. (PTI)
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