‘Phishing Attack’: Journalist Nidhi Razdan Says Harvard Offer Fake

File image of journalist Nidhi Razdan.

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Nidhi Razdan)

Journalist Nidhi Razdan, who quit the TV news channel NDTV last year, said on Twitter on Friday, 15 January, that she had been the victim of a "sophisticated and coordinated phishing attack" and did not actually receive an offer from Harvard University to join their faculty as an associate professor of journalism.

In June last year, Razdan had announced that she would be leaving NDTV and joining Harvard University as an associate professor, teaching journalism in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

In her statement on Friday, Razdan said that along with delays, she began to notice a "number of administrative anomalies in the process,” after which she eventually reached out to the authorities at Harvard.

“After hearing from the University, I have learnt that I have been the victim of a sophisticated and coordinated phishing attack… 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 said in a statement, adding that she has filed a complaint with the police.

“I hope that the police are able to get to the bottom of this attack on me at the earliest and help me bring this unsavoury incident to a swift end.”

Nidhi Razdan

Razdan had been associated with NDTV for 21 years. While announcing that she was leaving the channel, she had said, “NDTV has taught me everything. It has been my home. I am proud of the work we do, the stories we cover, the values we stand for, especially at a time when much of the media has surrendered its objectivity.”