IIT Manipur Student did not hack Google website nor was he offered a job by the IT giant…

Ritu Raj Choudhary has himself clarified that the viral message is Fake. He clearly mentioned that he was not offered any job from Google nor did he hack Google.

A viral post on social media claimed that a second year student of IIT Manipur named Ritu Raj Choudhary native from Begusarai has hacked Google for 52 seconds and sent himself a job offer letter with an annual package of 3.66 crores. The post further claims that Ritu Raj appreciated his own capabilities on behalf of Google. The posts claim, “Ritu Raj had mailed Google about a potential bug, due to which he could hack it. Upon realizing their technical fault at Google, the company called Ritu Raj and offered him a real job. When they found out that he does not have a passport, Google contacted the Indian government and arranged it in 2 hours. Lastly, this post also mentions that Ritu Raj will be flying to America in a private jet.”

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Fact Check-

We started our investigation by running a keyword search on Google, which led us to a report published by Times of India that clearly reported that Ritu Raj Choudhary has identified a bug in Google and reported this bug to the company. The report also states that he has been identified as one of Google’s bug hunter and placed him among the list of researchers. The report stated that Ritu Raj is a second year student from IIIT Manipur and not IIT Manipur.

Times of India spoke with Ritu Raj who told them that the bug “could be enough to allow hackers to breach in and get access to the data and compromise with the privacy associated to it.”

Nowhere did the article mention that Google has offered him a job or that he himself had hacked Google.

Speaking with Ritu Raj, the Lallantop published a news report where they questioned him about the claims going viral about him. Upon being questioned whether Google offered him a job, Ritu Raj clearly replied that he was not offered any job from google. He also mentioned that he did not hack Google. Instead, he just figured out a bug of Google, which Google has also acknowledged. There is a difference between bug fixing and hacking. He also mentioned that he still does not own a passport.

Next, we searched Ritu Raj Choudhary’s LinkedIn profile where he had posted a screenshot of the mail that he had received from Google after accepting the P-2 bug. Further, he has also issued clarification on the viral claims on his LinkedIn profile. He mentioned “I haven’t got any package or job offer from Google or Hacked anything it was just a bug which i have reported that’s it and currently I’m just in 2nd year Btech students so… Those news are Fake.”

Ritu Raj also commented on a viral post calling it out as fake.

Conclusion-

Fact Crescendo found the viral claim made along with the image on social media to be False. Ritu Raj Choudhary did not hack Google instead, he just reported a bug. Ritu Raj himself has clarified that he did not get any job offer from Google. 

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