Dubai: You may be desperate for a job but if you have been promised one for a Dh300 ‘fee’, watch out. Chances are you could be dealing with the perps of an old recruitment scam who are once again targeting unsuspecting job seekers using new baits.
Modus operandi
The modus operandi goes like this: Dubious companies masquerading as ‘recruitment agencies’ promise job seekers a ‘confirmed employment’ within seven days or a refund of their registration money.
Within days they send out emails to candidates with the names and contacts of their ‘prospective employers’ saying their interviews have been arranged with them. What they don’t tell is that these details are picked up from newspaper classifieds and job websites accessible to anyone for free.
Filipina Karen who registered with one such company in Ajman found this out when she called one of her interviewers, seeking a sales job. “It turned out to be walk-in interview. If I had seen their advertisement in the local newspapers, I would have saved my Dh300,” Karen said.
Indian Fatima, 20, who ‘registered’ her CV with a similar placement firm on Sharjah’s King Faisal Street in July said she’s yet to land a job. “They took Dh320 and assured me that I would get a data entry operator’s job within a week. They said they had business ties with some companies and gave me the contact details of their staff. But when I called them, they denied having any link with the agency,” said the commerce graduate. Rashid, another Indian job seeker, said he fell for the scam because the staff at the Sharjah based agency looked the part. “Their staff handed out pamphlets, notebooks, pens and even CDs on how to crack a job interview but they didn’t do anything beyond that. All their claims of getting jobs are bogus,” he added.
XPRESS called two placement agencies posing as a ‘potential candidate’. At the first one, the woman answering the phone said: “You will get a very good job 100 per cent within seven days. If not, the company will refund the amount.” This despite being told that she was talking to was a college drop-out.
The conversation with the second agency went something like this: “What job you want? Guaranteed you will get it in seven days.”
“But I have no work experience and just basic qualification”
“No problem sir, we will get you job with good salary and lots of perks. You just need to register with us by paying Dh300.”
The agency mentioned the names of some companies, claiming they were hiring staff on their behalf. But calls made to these companies drew a blank. “We are conducting interviews for positions we advertised for on newspapers and websites, and we deal with only reputable recruitment firms,” said the HR manager of one of them.
Bogus job interviews
In 2011, a sting operation by XPRESS unearthed the shocking nexus between dubious placement firms and staff of some UAE-based companies.
The story revealed how the staff of these companies pose as prospective employers and conduct sham interviews on behalf of these recruitment agencies. Their ‘commission’ came from the money a candidate pays to these ‘employment agencies’ towards registration charges. According to the Ministry of Labour, it’s illegal for an agency to take any fee from a job seeker in cash or as a reward, in return for any activity related to recruitment procedures.
