<p>Maybe it is a case of Fake News or a case of how a young boy from Chandigarh decided to fool the entire world claiming he was hired by Google. Reports by daily publications like Hindustan Times and other sources started to pour in about a graphic designer from Chandigarh, who has been offered a whopping annual package of Rs 1.44 crore by Google.</p> <p>Much like everyone else, there were many questions looming over everybody's head as to how a kid from Chandigarh bagged a job at Google. That too for graphic designing? My first reaction to this was clear, “If this is true, clearly I don't have the right job”.</p> <p>Much like how publications like to aggregate “trending” news, the claim spread like wildfire and the news turned into a fake story and was picked up by a few publications.</p> <p class="articleimg"><img id="ed-img" class="nolazy" title="Google Did Not Hire 16-Year-Old Indian Boy" src="http://media.new.mensxp.com/media/content/2017/Aug/google-did-not-hire-16-year-old-indian-boy2-1501668686.jpg" alt="Google Did Not Hire 16-Year-Old Indian Boy" data-original="http://media.new.mensxp.com/media/content/2017/Aug/google-did-not-hire-16-year-old-indian-boy2-1501668686.jpg" /></p> <p class="articleimg"><img id="ed-img" class="nolazy" title="Google Did Not Hire 16-Year-Old Indian Boy" src="http://media.new.mensxp.com/media/content/2017/Aug/google-did-not-hire-16-year-old-indian-boy3-1501668715.jpg" alt="Google Did Not Hire 16-Year-Old Indian Boy" data-original="http://media.new.mensxp.com/media/content/2017/Aug/google-did-not-hire-16-year-old-indian-boy3-1501668715.jpg" /></p> <p>India Today Tech reached out to Google for a statement, and the company said: "Currently, we don't have any information on our records with respect to Harshit Sharma's candidacy.” Due to the fake news that was spread across the interwebs, the Chandigarh Administration has ordered an investigation into the matter. </p> Here's How It Spread <p>Harshit Sharma went to the Chandigarh administration's public relations department and claimed that he has been hired by Google. He went to the extent of updating information on his Facebook personal account as ‘Works At Google' and ‘living in California'. </p> <p>The school principal of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Indra Beniwal, had also issued a press release stating “He came to me informing that Google has called him about the offer.” The boy had claimed that he had received an offer letter from Google but could not send it as he was travelling. The principal also denied seeing any letter to further solidify the boy's claim.</p> <p class="articleimg"><img id="ed-img" class="art-lazy imwidth-full" title="Google Did Not Hire 16-Year-Old Indian Boy" data-original="http://media.new.mensxp.com/media/content/2017/Aug/google-did-not-hire-16-year-old-indian-boy1-1501668494.jpg" alt="Google Did Not Hire 16-Year-Old Indian Boy" src="http://media.new.mensxp.com/media/content/2017/Aug/google-did-not-hire-16-year-old-indian-boy1-1501668494.jpg" />© Reuters</p> <p>The press release by the team was sent out to various media outlets and was reported as official information. Harshit Sharma told HT “I kept searching for jobs online... I applied for this job in May, and was interviewed online. I have been interested in graphic designing for the past 10 years. I was selected on the basis of the posters I designed.”</p> <p>Yeah right! And I am going to be the next prime minister of India based on my debating skills. It is quite apparent that Harshit went to a great extent to corroborate this story and even though this may have been a prank, people with nefarious intentions always get caught. Hope he has learned his lesson and tries to do it the right way next time.</p>