Unscrupulous individuals who think nothing of making money from poor people looking for a better life. Scamming good folks looking for a better job.

Like all scams they operate a numbers game. Most people will quickly see through their scam, but a small proportion will get caught. So the scammers play the numbers. If they process enough people, they will eventually get a victim.

They are everywhere online. Facebook for example has many pages purporting to offer jobs in various countries. The scammers behind these pages often make a post with every job title and many apparent job openings. A visitor can read comments from others like "I'm interested", "Thank you so much for this information" or "Please send details". It sounds like a fantastic opportunity, that you'd better not hesitate to miss.

But a little scratch below the surface and the fakery bubbles up. The people behind the post have no jobs to offer anyone and never will. Also, they employ others to add positive comments to the post. This starts the ball rolling and makes the post sound believable.

If they aren't looking for money directly, they are looking for your private information. Your full name, your home address, where you have worked and even your email address has value to them. With a small amount of information, they can add to it through your online presence, like your social media accounts. All this is bad news for the victim.

To avoid becoming a victim of a scam:-

• Research on the company. Contact them directly and enquire about the person that is contacting you and the job offer in question.

• Search for the company name and the word scam, see what other people have to say.

• If they want money, it's a scam

• Look out for spelling mistakes. Legitimate companies have a budget to make sure all their material is produced professionally.

• If you're being offered a job without any formal interview, be suspicious.

• If they email you with a Gmail, Hotmail or similar free service email address, it's a scam.

More On This

• Chewells
  Our Page On Employment Job Scams

About The Author
Urian Udell
Chewells Contributor

Urian is passionate about carbon capture. He is a staunch believer in the continued use of oil... »

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Replies

• Uncle Buck (Nov 19, 2023)
  My friend sent a copy of their passport for a job application. Her passport copy was used to make a fake passport for people trafficking.
• Oil patch dude (Nov 12, 2023)
  It's illegal to ask job applicants for money.
• Jj (Nov 12, 2023)
  Never pay any money. Proper recruitment agents get well paid by oil companies they don't need to charge job seekers.
• Oil patch dude (Nov 9, 2023)
  There is never any need for companies to take inexperienced people to other countries to fill jobs. Companies use local people for inexperienced or entry level work. Many governments insist that companies operating in their country employ a certain percentage of local people. They only take foreign workers when they can not find highly experienced people in that location. So don't be fooled by posts on Facebook or wherever where they are advertising many jobs in other countries for everyone. May be a scam.
• Johnny Boy (Nov 9, 2023)
  It's not easy to get a job in the oil industry. Anyone telling you it is probably wants to scam you
• Lorenzo (Nov 8, 2023)
  Worst is that the people that fall victim are often the most needy.
• Roxy (Nov 8, 2023)
  My cousin got scammed. Gave them money for an admin fee. Paid that, then they wanted more. No job, just pay money. Very bad

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