Candidate deletes Uber interviews, takes MacBook, then disappears without a trace. See viral post | Today’s news
A Hyderabad-based recruiter at Uber has shared an unusual recruitment experience that went viral on LinkedIn after a candidate who successfully cleared the company’s recruitment process allegedly disappeared on the day he was due to join.
The incident was recounted by Raghu Tenneti, chief recruiter at Uber, in a LinkedIn post that has since garnered considerable attention and sparked discussions about challenges in recruiting, identity verification and hiring practices.
The candidate is said to have gone missing on the day of joining
According to Tenneti, the candidate successfully completed the interview and was issued a company laptop before starting. However, when the employee did not report on the specified start date, efforts to establish contact were said to have led nowhere.
“Ghosting candidates on joining day is nothing new these days. But this guy didn’t let us down. He disappeared from existence,” Tenneti wrote in his LinkedIn post.
The recruiter said several attempts were made to reach the individual after he failed to show up for work.
“He called his number. ‘This number doesn’t exist.’ Not switched off. Not unreachable. doesn’t exist. The brother didn’t block us. He deleted himself from the telecom network,” he said.
The LinkedIn profile has reportedly disappeared
The mystery deepened when the company reportedly discovered that the candidate’s LinkedIn profile was no longer accessible.
Tenneti also claimed that efforts to trace the delivery location of the company-issued laptop yielded no answers.
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“Tracked down the delivery address for the laptop. Vacant lot. Behind an abandoned building. Gave us space for a MacBook,” he wrote.
According to Tenneti, the company’s IT team also attempted to remotely monitor the device.
“Our IT team pinged the laptop remotely. Factory reset. Encrypted proxy. Ping from coordinates that shouldn’t exist on this planet.”
Recruiter compares the incident to Mission: Impossible
Tenneti described the situation in a humorous tone, comparing the alleged disappearance to the actions of Ethan Hunt, the fictional spy played by Tom Cruise in the Mission: Impossible franchise.
“This man didn’t skip Day 1. He faked his entire identity and disappeared without a single digital trace. That’s not a ghost. That’s a robbery. And honestly? Ethan Hunt, honestly, respects the craft. Bro, we want our laptop back.”
The recruiter indicated that the experience made him rethink parts of the onboarding process.
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Lessons for the recruitment process
In light of the incident, Tenneti said it plans to implement an additional verification step before future hires come on board.
Having learned from the episode, he joked that he would now add “confirm that the candidate physically exists” to his pre-registration checklist.
“Every recruitment process has an escape point. Mine apparently opened up into another dimension. The candidate didn’t fall out of the funnel. He left the timeline,” he added.
Reaction on social networks
The unusual account quickly gained attention online, with social media users expressing disbelief at the alleged disappearance and speculating on how such an incident could happen.
One user questioned the growing role of artificial intelligence in recruiting and hiring.
“It doesn’t show how recruiters today rely on AI to filter resumes and AI throughout the hiring process to get selected, and AI again to cheat those recruiters who hired them. That’s why the system is broken.”
Another user wrote: “This is unbelievable. Oh my god.”
A third commenter highlighted the effort required to clarify the recruitment process of a large technology company.
“So you’re telling me this guy went through Leetcode issues month after month, Uber tech interviews, behavioral rounds, system design questions, and HR… just to steal a laptop?”
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That’s a certain amount of patience and determination to get a MacBook.”
Others viewed the incident through a cybersecurity lens.
“This was not a connection scam.
This was reverse recruitment.
Bro interviewed you, validated your processes, collected company assets, tested incident response, and left.
Somewhere there is a presentation of a meeting room called:
“Target Organization Penetration Report – Mission Succeeded,” commented another user.
Meanwhile, another commentator questioned whether the alleged act could be part of a wider pattern.
“This is crazy. I don’t understand why anyone would go that far just for a laptop unless they are doing it at scale with multiple companies,” the user wrote.