With explosive growth in digital job opportunities there has been a staggering rise in online hiring scams. To counter this, professional networking platform LinkedIn has announced its latest set of verification features aimed at strengthening user trust on its platform in India.
At present, India is seen as among the fastest-growing digital job markets in the world. However, with opportunities comes risk, as several instances show how fraudsters have been scamming job-seekers with fake offers. This not only leaves one vulnerable to financial losses but also causes emotional distress. When candidates are grappling with burnout and uncertainty in career prospects, hiring scams add to the woes.
According to industry experts, the best defence is vigilance, awareness, and trusted tools. In line with this sentiment, adoption of LinkedIn’s verification features in India has jumped 2.4 times in the past year. This is mainly due to professionals increasingly seeking assurance before connecting, applying, or hiring.
Verification for companies and recruiters
In order to support professionals and build on this momentum, LinkedIn has introduced three new verification features that it claims will assist professional interactions more securely. These features are expanded company page verification, recruiter workplace verification, and executive job title verification.
Expanded company page verification: Verification was limited to established firms until now. With this, the feature will now be available to more companies, including small enterprises with a paid premium page subscription. According to the platform, 85 per cent of business buyers cite trust as critical when choosing partners. And expanding verification is expected to help smaller firms build strong relationships with customers, prospects, and even jobseekers.
Recruiter workplace verification: This feature requires those with recruiter-related job titles to verify their workplace. According to LinkedIn, this feature will foster trust and give jobseekers greater confidence, as they would know that they are engaging with legitimate hiring professionals.
Executive job title verification: Senior roles such as managing directors and vice presidents will also now need workplace verification to reduce the risk of impersonation at leadership levels.
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The latest steps are in line with LinkedIn’s broader security push. Since 2023, the company has gradually introduced verifications across jobs, identities, company pages, and recruiters.
Tackling fake accounts at scale
Further, LinkedIn highlighted that its safety infrastructure already blocks over 99 per cent of fake accounts and scams before they are reported. The platform has prevented 80.6 million fake accounts from registering between July and December 2024.
However, technology alone is not enough. “Awareness is equally important,” said Aditi Jha, head of legal and public policy at LinkedIn India, urging jobseekers to adopt safe practices.
Jha recommends never sharing bank details before onboarding, rejecting suspicious requests (legitimate employers won’t ask you to download encrypted software or send money), and being wary of roles that seem “too good to be true.” She also recommended regularly updating account settings, adding recovery options, and enabling security features.
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Safety tools for Indian jobseekers
Along with verification, the platform is also promoting a suite of tools designed to make job searches safer:
📌Verification badges on job postings indicate whether the job poster or company has been verified through LinkedIn or its identity partners.
📌Message warnings use automated detection to flag potentially harmful content and scams.
📌Job search filters now allow users to see only postings from verified companies and recruiters.
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📌Passkeys let users log in via device-based authentication such as fingerprint or facial recognition, improving both security and convenience.
📌Two-step verification adds an extra layer of protection by requiring multiple forms of authentication when logging in from new devices.
“Our vision is to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce,” LinkedIn said in a statement. “Ensuring that trust and safety are built into professional interactions is central to that mission.”
With the platform blocking millions of fake accounts and steadily expanding verification, the challenge ahead lies in ensuring jobseekers remain vigilant. “Technology can protect you to a large extent, but your awareness is your first line of defence,” Jha summed up.
