Youstart

TL;DR: A person running "Groot Academy" in Mansarovar (Jaipur) has hijacked the Google Business Profile of our legally registered company, "YouStart". He is impersonating our business, creating fake AI-generated websites, altering old reviews, and using photos of real Jaipur professors and students without consent. We have filed a cybercrime complaint and sent a legal notice, but we are posting this to warn local students and people whose identities are affected while the authorities take action.

Note: The name of the individual involved varies across platforms (Satnam Singh / Satnam Singh Kumawat / Satnam Singh Khowal, etc.), and he operates multiple LinkedIn profiles, some using photos of random people.

The Situation

Our company, YouStart, had a physical office in Jaipur from 2016 to 2019 before moving operations to Bangalore. Our old Google Maps marker remained in Jaipur. Recently, we discovered that the owner of Groot Academy managed to hijack our "Primary Ownership" on Google Maps, moved the marker to Gopalpura, and is actively using our established brand to lure students into a larger scam network.

Key Cyber Offences

• Corporate Identity Theft: Illegally claiming operations under our company name, violating MCA rules.
• Fake Websites & Lead Funnels: Using AI to rapidly spin up fake websites (like "Youstart Technologies") to deceive visitors.
• IVR Number Harvesting: Phone numbers on the fake sites route to an IVR that harvests your number. The next day, victims receive sales calls directly from Groot Academy.
• Privacy Violations: Posting pictures of local Jaipur colleges, students, and teachers without consent to make the hijacked profile look legitimate. This includes falsely uploading photos of respected professors.
• Manipulating Real Reviews: Actively replying to reviews from our true past clients and employees using fake business information.

Action Taken & Proofs Submitted

We are actively fighting this with Google's legal team and have submitted comprehensive proof to the police, including:

• Audio Recordings: On a recorded call to official Groot Academy numbers, their staff explicitly claimed to be the owners of YouStart.
• Google's Shared Data: Information matching the Director of Groot Academy (verified via Truecaller) was used in the admin change request.
• Matching Coordinates: The hijacked YouStart marker was placed at the exact same coordinates as one of Groot Academy's physical locations in Gopalpura to bypass Google's verification.

Additional Deceptive Practices

Associated sites like JaipurEngineers.com, youstarttechnologies.com, and Forsk Coding School show similar troubling patterns. Furthermore, the director claims on LinkedIn to hold a B.Tech from IIT Kanpur (CS, 2010-14), yet his actual digital footprint reveals basic Java coaching in 2016 and entry-level jobs in Jaipur.

A formal Cease and Desist has been sent by our lawyer, and a Cyber Crime FIR is registered. Legal processes take time, so our immediate priority is ensuring no one in Jaipur pays this institute under the false belief they are dealing with YouStart.

Full Proof and Report Documentation

Below is the detailed documentation of the impersonation network that we've compiled:

Stay safe, and always verify who you are giving your money to.