The former NDTV journalist realized she had been attacked after she approached Harvard University after several delays and “administrative anomalies” in the process.
Six months after popular television journalist and news anchor Nidhi Razdan announced on social media that she would be leaving NDTV for a teaching position at Harvard University, she revealed that she was the victim of a sophisticated phishing attack. The senior journalist who has worked in television for more than two decades was told in June 2020 that she would be appointed an associate professor at the University. But after multiple publication delays and “administrative anomalies” in the process, she reached out to Harvard University, only to find that she had been scammed.
Nidhi shared on her official Twitter account that last year she had started preparing for the new assignment that was due to start in September 2020, but was later told that due to the ongoing pandemic, classes at Harvard would begin in January 2021 “Along with these delays, I began to notice a number of administrative anomalies in the process that were being described to me,” Nidhi wrote.
“At first, I had dismissed these anomalies as reflecting the new normal dictated by the pandemic, but recently the statements made to me were of an even more disturbing nature. As a result, I contacted the higher authorities at Harvard University for clarity. At their request, I shared some of the correspondence that I believed I had received from the University, ”Nidhi said in a statement issued on Twitter on Friday.
It was then that he realized that he had become the victim of a “sophisticated and coordinated phishing attack.”
“In fact, I did not receive an offer from Harvard University to join their faculty as an associate professor of journalism. The perpetrators of this attack used clever falsifications and misrepresentations to gain access to my personal data and communications, and they may have also gained access to my devices and my email / social media accounts, ”Nidhi said in her statement.
Nidhi shared that he has filed a complaint with the police and provided them with all relevant documentary evidence. “I have asked you to take immediate steps to identify, apprehend and prosecute the perpetrators of this heinous attack. On the other hand, I have written to the authorities at Harvard University and I have urged them to take the matter seriously, ”he said.
Nidhi added that she has also written to people and organizations that I have been in contact with over the past few months to keep them informed. “I hope the police can get to the bottom of this attack on me as soon as possible and help me bring this unpleasant incident to a quick end,” added Nidhi.
Phishing scams are often scams that are carried out by sending emails or communications pretending to be from a certain company or organization to trick people into revealing personal information.
In India, job scams are prevalent, especially on popular sites like Naukri.com and Indeed, where fake job postings are posted and applicants claiming to be from the job site are approached and then paid to get the job , or even to schedule an interview.
In such cases, the perpetrators of fraud use personal information to mislead people into believing that their offers are real, and their mode of communication, such as email IDs, is strikingly similar to that of the workplace or company.
Many reactions have been coming in, “I hope they catch the person responsible for this scam. I guess it was a high level of sophistry. Especially if a http://Harvard.edu account was used, ”wrote author Aparna Jain.
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