Telangana engineer tries ‘Dragon’-style impersonation fraud to get Infosys job, busted in 15 Days

Following the interview, Infosys issued him an offer letter on January 20, 2025. Prashanth joined soon after, but staff quickly grew suspicious as he sounded different from the one in the interview. Despite having a strong academic background, he struggled with basic communication. The report emphasised that Prashanth spoke fluent English during his interview.

A senior police officer told TOI that this inconsistency led to an internal investigation. When the HR compared screenshots from the virtual interview with Prashanth’s actual photos, it became clear someone else had attended on his behalf.

Prashanth was terminated and returned to Hyderabad. Despite the fraud, he is reportedly demanding compensation for the 15 days he worked. The police have registered a case against him under the IT Act and Sections 318 (cheating) and 319 (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

In similar incidents over the past few years, two men were arrested in Gurugram in 2017 for appearing in place of a candidate during a primary teacher recruitment exam. Just a year earlier, in 2016, authorities apprehended 12 impersonators during the Uttarakhand Ayurveda Pre-Medical Test. In 2012, the Crime Branch busted a high-tech cheating racket during AIIMS postgraduate entrance exams, where question papers were scanned using advanced mobile phones, and answers were transmitted to candidates through Bluetooth devices.