Journalist Nidhi Razdan Says Job Offer From Harvard Was Fake, Calls It A Phishing Attack

Journalist Nidhi Razdan, who quit NDTV last year to join Harvard University as an Associate Professor of Journalism, has now said that the job offer at the prestigious American University was fake, claiming she was victim of a "very serious phishing attack".

The journalist, who has worked with the NDTV for over two decades, said that she was told in June 2020 that she would be posted as Associate Professor at the University. However, after multiple delays in the posting and “administrative anomalies” in the process, she reached out to Harvard University, only to find out that she was scammed.

Razdan, in a statement on Twitter on Friday (15 January), said she was made to believe that her assignment with the Harvard University was due to start in September 2020 but was later told that due to the ongoing pandemic, classes at the varsity would commence in January 2021.

“Along with these delays, I began noticing a number of administrative anomalies in the process being described to me,” Razdan said.

“At first, I had dismissed these anomalies as being reflective of the new normal being dictated by the pandemic, but recently the representations being made to me were of an even more disquieting nature," she added.

Following this, she reached out to authorities at the Harvard University for further clarity on her appointment.

"After hearing from the University, I have now learnt that I have been the victim of a sophisticated and coordinated phishing attack," the journalist said.

"I did not, in fact, receive an offer by Harvard University to join their faculty as an Associate Professor of Journalism. The perpetrators of this attack used clever forgeries and misrepresentations to obtain access to my personal data and communications and may have also gained access to my devices and my email/social media accounts,” she added.

Razdan further added that she had filed a complaint with the police and provided them with all the relevant documentary evidence.