UAE | Employment

'Phishing' website of bogus recruitment agency blocked

The website of the bogus recruitment agency which was linked to three ministries' websites has been blocked in the UAE, a senior official told Gulf News on Monday.

  • By Wafa Issa, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 23:09 February 11, 2008
  • Gulf News

  • Screengrab of the bogus agency's hyperlink to the Ministry of Labour website.
  • Image Credit:

Dubai: The website of the bogus recruitment agency which was linked to three ministries' websites has been blocked in the UAE, a senior official told Gulf News on Monday.

The agency was cheating people who wanted to find a job here by forging UAE government documents and passing themselves off online as official authorities.

They duplicated the websites of the Ministries of Labour and Education as well as Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD).

Brigadier Mohammad Ahmad Al Merri, DNRD's Director-General, said blocking the website is the first step in a series of measures to crack down on the fraudsters.

"In cooperation with the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) we blocked the website in the UAE and we are now working with concerned authorities on an international level to block their website worldwide," said Al Merri.

Major Khalid Al Razooqi, Director of the Information Technology sector at DNRD, told Gulf News that a warning note will be displayed on the duplicated DNRD website for people abroad.

"We have managed to put a notification on their website warning the public that this website is a phishing (an electronic attempt to fraudulently acquire sensitive and personal information) site and referring people to our official website," said Al Razooqi.

'The website you are trying to view is fraudulent. Please visit the official website on www.dnrd.ae', the statement reads. However, no notification is placed on the duplicated websites of the Ministry of Labour and Education.

The agency offered a salary of more than Dh16,000 ($4,400) plus accommodation and demanded $400 as visa charges. DNRD letterheads and signatures of senior officials, a copy of which was obtained by Gulf News, were forged by the bogus agency.

"A report on the DNRD's forged documents has been submitted to the Ministry of Interior and investigations are underway to find out the source of this online scam and action will be taken against the fraudsters soon," said Al Merri.

The agency had also forged Ministry of Education documents along with signatures of the Minister of Education, and the ministry sent a warning to jobseekers last Thursday after the ministry discovered a forged document submitted by a teacher who wanted to finalise her appointment.

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