With about 60% unemployment in Greece, a lot of desperate Greeks are falling prey to scammers. But scamming is not limited to economies under recession. In fact, India has also seen its share of job scams, such as the rural jobs scam where fictitious workers act as revenue for corrupt government officials. Here are some examples of job scams that target naive job seekers and how to avoid falling into the trap.
Take the case of Santhosh. After graduating, he thought he could kick start his career by pursuing a call center job. Unaware of other viable options in Patna, Santhosh made the mistake of approaching a consultancy. The consultancy asked him for his resume and confirmed that there were four positions that matched his profile. Interviews for these positions would start the next week and before going for an interview, he would have to pay a registration amount of Rs.500. Santhosh reasoned that this was fair since the registration fee also allowed him to access employer interviews all year through. Furthermore, he could directly approach employers after paying the said fees; little did he know that was the beginning of his nightmare.
Days turned into weeks without getting a call for an interview and just when Santhosh was about to give up, he got a call for an interview. He was successful in the interview and was offered the position. Oddly enough, the employer asked him to pick up his offer letter from the consultancy. On requesting his offer letter, the consultancy asked him to sign a letter stating that he had agreed to offer his first salary as placement charges. Having already paid the registration fees, this new money request shocked him, but the consultancy persuaded him that he could split the payment into two installments. Left with no other employment options, Santhosh agreed to this condition. Later on, he learned that the employer had a pre-arranged deal with the consultancy which stated that half of his first and second salary went directly to the consultancy.
To avoid such a scam, you will need to do your job research efficiently. While there are some consultancies that are fake, some are genuine. If you want to approach a consultancy make sure it’s a reputable one by asking your friends or family who may have experience with them. Most genuine consultancies charge employers rather than job seekers and even when they charge job seekers, they only do it once and the fee is normally marginal.
Even better, job sites such as Babajob allow you to easily register for free, view available jobs for free, contact employers and ask for nothing when you get hired.
However, be careful. There have been examples of ‘recruiters’ who post jobs on a reputed job site with offers from companies such as Barclays or Pfizer in the UK. Once you sent in your job application, you would get an email with a soft copy version of an offer letter detailing a mouth watering expatriate package deal. However, there was a catch. To facilitate the process, it was mandatory for you to contact an immigration lawyer who would require a consultation fee of about Rs.7,000. Alternatively, you could give a call to a number starting with 44-70xxxxxxx for additional instructions. Failure to do this would result into you terminating the employment process.
Take the case of Santhosh. After graduating, he thought he could kick start his career by pursuing a call center job. Unaware of other viable options in Patna, Santhosh made the mistake of approaching a consultancy. The consultancy asked him for his resume and confirmed that there were four positions that matched his profile. Interviews for these positions would start the next week and before going for an interview, he would have to pay a registration amount of Rs.500. Santhosh reasoned that this was fair since the registration fee also allowed him to access employer interviews all year through. Furthermore, he could directly approach employers after paying the said fees; little did he know that was the beginning of his nightmare.
Days turned into weeks without getting a call for an interview and just when Santhosh was about to give up, he got a call for an interview. He was successful in the interview and was offered the position. Oddly enough, the employer asked him to pick up his offer letter from the consultancy. On requesting his offer letter, the consultancy asked him to sign a letter stating that he had agreed to offer his first salary as placement charges. Having already paid the registration fees, this new money request shocked him, but the consultancy persuaded him that he could split the payment into two installments. Left with no other employment options, Santhosh agreed to this condition. Later on, he learned that the employer had a pre-arranged deal with the consultancy which stated that half of his first and second salary went directly to the consultancy.
To avoid such a scam, you will need to do your job research efficiently. While there are some consultancies that are fake, some are genuine. If you want to approach a consultancy make sure it’s a reputable one by asking your friends or family who may have experience with them. Most genuine consultancies charge employers rather than job seekers and even when they charge job seekers, they only do it once and the fee is normally marginal.
Even better, job sites such as Babajob allow you to easily register for free, view available jobs for free, contact employers and ask for nothing when you get hired.
However, be careful. There have been examples of ‘recruiters’ who post jobs on a reputed job site with offers from companies such as Barclays or Pfizer in the UK. Once you sent in your job application, you would get an email with a soft copy version of an offer letter detailing a mouth watering expatriate package deal. However, there was a catch. To facilitate the process, it was mandatory for you to contact an immigration lawyer who would require a consultation fee of about Rs.7,000. Alternatively, you could give a call to a number starting with 44-70xxxxxxx for additional instructions. Failure to do this would result into you terminating the employment process.