Dubai — and the United Arab Emirates as a whole — has become a popular destination for expats to work in the past several years. The country is rapidly growing and developing, and the conventional thinking is that everyone is rich in Dubai. With so much money available in Dubai, the city and the country, in general, are bound to attract expats looking to make a quick buck.
Sadly, the same promise of opportunity also attracts scammers who target job seekers. There are many scams nowadays, including bank scams, internet scams, and last but not least, job scams. Even intelligent people can fall victim to job scams. Usually, these job scamming companies put up a beautiful website, advertising various dream jobs for everyone, and messages such as “this is your lucky day!”. Users register at the site, fill out the form, and are just one step away from their dream job that brings quick bucks. Right? Wrong!
Top Job Scam Signs to Look For
People who are desperately looking for a job and naïve people are the perfect targets for rogue recruiters. How to spot them? Look for the following signs:
- They ask for money to secure a job position. No recruitment agency gets money from the employees. Remember, it’s the employer who pays a hefty commission to the agency to find the right candidate for the job.
- The job is urgent! Another red flag is the agency advertises the situation as critical, and users must apply the same day or tomorrow. Sometimes, rogue recruiters advertise the situation as “you have an exclusive opportunity” and stuff like that. Employers want to land the right candidate as soon as possible. Still, to label, an advertisement as urgent could have another meaning: entice applicants so that they will submit requirements sooner — including monetary or other favors along with purportedly legitimate ones such as resume and portfolio.
- Be wary of fake testimonials and photos. Little common sense goes a long way in detecting a fake testimonial. An example of a phony testimonial is “Great Service!” “Great price!” and others with little or no relevance to the job you’re applying for.
- They use free email addresses even if the company name they carry is quite prominent. Examples could be microsoftjobs2014@gmail.com, emiratescleanerjob@yahoo.com, and the like. Companies like Microsoft or Emirates have their email domains and will not use free email addresses.
The Role of Recruitment Agencies
One of the biggest reasons why people fall victim to job scamming is that they don’t understand the role of the recruitment agency. The agency serves as the medium, the link between employees and employers. The agency does not employ, and it merely works for employers who pay them money to find them, workers. The employer is the one who pays for candidates. Always and everywhere. There is no other way around it.
How to Avoid Scams
Those who fall victim to job scams have only themselves to blame, and no one else. Scammers make their living of gullible people and those lazy enough not to check things out. The most important thing is not to put out there by placing an advertisement “looking for a job.” That makes you the prey of scammers. How do avoid them? Do a little research.
- First and foremost, do a Google search. Write the name of the recruitment agency, add words such as scam and fraud, and hit search. If the results are asking if the company is scamming, it probably is. Also, search for the photos posted on the recruitment agency testimonials. The search can show if they are taken off from another website.
- Search for company information on Google, the name of the managers, directors, and so on.
- Check the company on Linkedin. With so much information on Linkedin and other internet websites, it would be a shame to fall victim to scams. There is information all around us; just look for them.
- Check online forums such as Dubai Forum, Desert Speak, and Fraudwatchers.
