At a time when pandemic-hit businesses are laying off people and joblessness is growing, criminals are coming up with novel ways to dupe residents and citizens.
Criminal syndicates based in foreign countries are assuming identities of companies based in the UAE to lure people — both from abroad and in the UAE — with fake job offers. In recent years, Gulf News has published articles exposing such syndicates and detailed guides to help people avoid falling in their trap.
Law enforcement authorities must also do more to protect the UAE’s reputation as an attractive destination for talented individuals. They must crack down on UAE based individuals who provide logistical help to criminal syndicates operating from foreign shores
Still, many job seekers continue to fall for attractive but fictitious job offers and end up losing money. Just this week, Gulf News published another report exposing criminals who had created a fake website of a large company that doesn’t exist.
It offered Dh25,000 for hiring teachers and claimed to be running a conglomerate with diversified business. The Gulf News report exposed that the content for the website, created three months ago, was stolen from the website of a Dubai based company.
Fake conduits in the UAE
Several such incidents of fraudulent job offers were exposed by Gulf News journalists in the past. In most cases, the criminals were based abroad but operated with the help of their conduits in the UAE.
For example, job seekers were told to wire money to individuals based in the UAE for visa and other expenses. By law, employers cannot charge money from job applicants but job seekers based abroad are not familiar with UAE laws. These criminals cannot operate without a network of accomplices in the UAE.
Therefore, job seekers must remain alert and must obtain information from trusted sources, understand the hiring process and UAE labour laws before responding to job offers. www.gulfnews.com is a rich source of a wide range of information on UAE laws and recruitment processes.
It is the responsibility of the job seekers to first satisfy themselves about the credibility of companies offering jobs and obtain information about prevailing salaries in the market. A higher than average salary offer should ring a bell.
Also, the UAE based companies have a responsibility to protect their reputation and that of the country by actively reporting fictitious job listings to the authorities.
The employers must understand that a fake job offer can dent their image if criminals continue to use their identities by creating fake websites and fake letterheads.
Law enforcement authorities must also do more to protect the UAE’s reputation as an attractive destination for talented individuals. They must crack down on UAE based individuals who provide logistical help to criminal syndicates operating from foreign shores.
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