The Internship Scam - 1stop
It was July 2, 2024. I was heading out when I got a call from my friend, Teja Reddy. I ignored it since I was busy with my daily schedule. As usual, I snoozed it for the weekend. But since it was Sunday and my focus mode was off, he kept calling again and again. Thinking it might be urgent, I finally picked up.
“Chaitu, I need a small favor. I joined this internship—can you join too? Just for me?”
I immediately shut him down. “Dude, don’t ever call me for this kind of crap. These so-called internships are scams. Don’t fall for them.” Then I hung up.
Later that evening, he called again. This time, I ignored it. But then my mom came in and said, “Teja is waiting for you at the gate.” So, I casually went outside and asked him the usual small talk—how life was going and all that.
And then, he started the same nonsense from the morning.
I told him straight up, “First of all, I have zero interest in this so-called job or internship. Second, don’t even call it an internship—it’s just a course with a certificate, not real experience. I’m studying to meet society’s expectations because, in the end, people value a degree on paper more than actual skills and worth.”
Then he finally told me the real reason.
His girlfriend was working at that company in Bangalore as an intern, and her company was forcing her to hit a target—getting at least 10 people to sign up by the end of the day. She was in serious trouble, so she asked him to bring in some friends.
At that moment, everything clicked. My gut feeling was right. It was a scam—a fake company collecting money under the name of “internships.”
I’ve dealt with these things before. But even when I’ve done similar stuff, I never took a single rupee from anyone—I always shared knowledge for free. (Check out my Snakes and Networks blog for more on that.) So yeah, I knew exactly what was going on, and I was fully aware of how these fake startups and internship scams operate.
After explaining everything to him, I decided to pay the internship fee—just for the sake of our friendship. I told him, “Go home, we’ll schedule it for tomorrow at 10 AM.” But he kept pushing me to join immediately.
At this point, my intention was clear—I was going to check everything about this so-called “internship” and report it as a scam to the relevant authorities. To me, everything looks like a legit business until people start questioning it. That’s when you realize it’s a scam.
Anyway, he wasn’t leaving. So, I just paid the money. He finally relaxed and went home.
Then he told me to message his girlfriend with the payment screenshot for registration. I sent a simple “Hello.” She replied, asking for my full name, then sent me the company details:
“Hey,
I am Pravinya Rayalapati, Senior Executive from AICTE Org of 1Stop.ai, an education partner of E-Cell IIT Roorkee.”
I forwarded this to my friend Santo, who was completely shocked. When I explained everything to him, his shock turned into disbelief. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my country,” he said, shaking his head. I just laughed and replied, “Bro, welcome to India—where you’re either celebrating a festival or dodging a scam. No wonder every MNC treats us like their favorite playground for both sales and shady schemes!”
She then sent me the registration link. I filled out everything and submitted the ₹1750 INR payment. The transaction was done, Teja was happy.
I knew it was a scam, but I went through with it just for Teja. I wanted him to realize that this wasn’t the right way to build a career. He was only doing it for his girlfriend, and while that was his choice, it had nothing to do with me. He asked me to pay, so I did—end of story.
That’s it. I’m done with this. I don’t wanna be involved anymore.
After a day, he told me he had gotten more than 50 people to join just for her. See, he did it all for a girl—how stupid! I told him straight up that she was just using him for her work. I advised him to stay away from this trash and never do something like this for a girl again. I told him, “She’s using you now, but once her work is done, she won’t care about you at all. In the end, you’re just another number in her report, and once she meets her target, you’ll be forgotten.
Finally, it’s none of my business, so I don’t care about him or his relationship. I just hope I never fall for this trap again, even if it were for a close friend.
Folder - Scam Teja