ABU DHABI The website of a fake Abu Dhabi school that conmen used to recruit teachers from around the world has been blocked after XPRESS blew the lid off the scam last week.
The website www.hisabudhabi of the bogus school Howard International School was set up by fraudsters by stealing pictures and content from the Dubai International School in Garhoud. It carried a number of vacancies for teaching and administrative jobs and invited candidates to apply online.
Reimburse
Applicants were also asked to pay an upfront visa processing fee of $1,250 (Dh4,587) through a fake travel agency named Arabian Travel and Tours. They were promised that the amount would be reimbursed when they arrived in Abu Dhabi to join the school.
But the process could not be completed when this reporter applied for an elementary teacher’s position. While an email from the school’s “human resource manager” Dr Adolph Carlson acknowledged the receipt of the application in an email on May 27, there was no going to the next step.
“We have reviewed your CV/resume and we wish to inform you that you are eligible for a job position in Howard International School Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates … Only successful and short-listed applicants will be contacted and invited for a job position and a mandatory training programme scheduled two weeks on confirmation of job offer from Howard International School,” the email read and asked the reporter to fill out a questionnaire by clicking on a link. However, the link did not work as the website had been blocked.
It was not clear if it had been shut by authorities or those behind the fraudulent site. A comment was not available from the Abu Dhabi Education Council.
Doubts about the school’s credibility were first raised on www.whichschooladvisor.com where teachers who had received fake job offers had voiced concerns.
“I was asked to pay $1,250 to the account number 3381041338 in the name of Hinoto Yeptho in Dimapur Central Bank of India,” wrote a teacher on the website.
Algerian Nassiba Charchari told XPRESS she received a job offer via email from Dr Carlson although she had never applied for a job at the school. “I was asked to contact Arabian Travel and Tours based in Abu Dhabi and make the payment,” Charchari said.
When XPRESS tried to call the cell phone number of Carlson, there was no response. A call to the number supposedly belonging to Arabian Tours and Travels was answered by a man who identified himself as Abdul Mohammad.
He dodged questions about the location of the travel agency but said he had processed work permits for several teachers recruited by Howard school.
“We have already processed visas for 16 teachers. I cannot give our office address as we are relocating to Jumeirah Lake Towers in Dubai,” he said.
