Impressive CV to fake slips: Startup CEO duped in shocking hiring scam

Arshia Kaur, founder of beauty start-up Tint Cosmetics, has publicly alleged that a senior hire at her company submitted fake salary slips and misrepresented his professional background. In a detailed video posted on Instagram in early August 2025, Kaur described the incident as a “hiring horror story” and urged fellow entrepreneurs to conduct deeper background checks.

Kaur claimed the individual, hired in 2024 as Head of Marketing, appeared “amazing” on paper and gave convincing accounts of his previous achievements during interviews. “Everything looked extremely legit because we actually saw the backend,” she said in the Instagram video.

Within a month of joining, however, Kaur said performance concerns emerged. “He could neither communicate with the team nor with the bosses, and he couldn’t complete his tasks. All his tasks were given to other team members, or it was put on us because he was unable to fulfil them,” she recounted.

After multiple discussions, Kaur decided to terminate the employee’s contract after two and a half months. Curiosity about his underperformance led the team to re-examine his documents — a move that, she said, revealed multiple red flags.

“We went through his salary slips, letters of recommendation, and found out that the person scammed the company with fake salary slips,” Kaur alleged in the video.

According to her account, the salary slips showed 31 working days with no leave taken, carried no official stamp or signature, and recorded zero tax deductions. “The worst of it all — the salary slips were made on an Excel sheet,” she added.

When confronted, Kaur claimed the employee failed to produce bank statements to prove receipt of the stated salary, instead claiming that the company had paid him “a lot of amount in cash.”

Kaur described the incident as “a huge wake-up call” for her as a founder. “When you’re bootstrapped, every single penny matters; it’s hard-earned money. You cannot pay people whatever they ask for — founders, please don’t do this. It’s your right to have the correct information about anyone you’ve decided to hire,” she warned.

The post drew significant engagement on social media, with many users questioning the recruitment process. One Instagram commenter asked, “How did you hire a head of marketing without a reference check and background verification? It would have easily been flagged there.”

Others claimed similar experiences. “I work with a leading R&R fintech firm, and we too hired a head of marketing recently. This exact same thing happened with us as well,” another user wrote.

Some suggested stricter vetting measures. “Hiring these days is super tough because this generation lies a lot. We conduct a two-hour interview after the technical round, and the whole agenda is to cross-question them so thoroughly that they eventually fumble on the numbers and get caught,” one user commented, also criticising inflated salary demands.

While Kaur’s account has not been independently verified beyond her public statements, the episode underscores the potential risks for smaller companies with limited HR resources. Submitting forged salary slips is an offence under Indian law, and can constitute criminal fraud and forgery under the Indian Penal Code.

Kaur concluded her Instagram message with a call for vigilance: “It’s so important to do your due diligence and make sure that if something seems fishy, you ask questions early. Never go ahead without reference checks from seniors — you live and you learn.”

At the time of publication, Tint Cosmetics had not disclosed whether it intended to pursue legal action against the former employee.