It may be the ultimate nightmare for an underpaid nurse or other professionals and Filipinos to be scammed out of their hard earned money and time. Fraudulent job offers were supposed to be a thing of the past after the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) upgraded their system and started becoming more transparent with information about recruitment agencies.
Usually it would be enough to just go over the POEA website and search for the legitimacy of a recruitment agency via the POEA databanks that are updated regularly. Unfortunately, scammers have stepped up their game and have begun using a newer way to scam people.
Trusted Recruitment Agencies
Social media is a powerful tool and it is often through websites like Facebook that agencies post their job ads. The most phrases to lure individuals are the following statements by recruitment agency XYZ.
STUDY ABROAD! NO IELTS/NCLEX NEEDED! FLY NOW PAY LATER! IMMEDIATE DEPLOYMENT!
These statements usually trigger the curiosity of people. People will try to check the agency only to find that everything is legitimate. It is POEA registered, no delinquency and no problems to date. What’s more, the agency says deployment will be at the end of the month! This is the siren’s call that lures in a lot of applicants.
After answering the ad, people will then be asked to undergo a medical exam, give their passport (for visa purposes according to most agencies) and then pay a meager sum. Usually just 20,000 pesos. It’s a relatively small sum compared to horror stories of fraud amounting to hundred thousand pesos. The applicant goes home confident that they made the right choice.
The weeks fly and the supposed deployment day passes and all the agency can say is: :
A. The employer will be coming in to the Philippines to personally accompany you into DFA/POEA to process your papersB. They have to wait for the first batch to be processed first because they are the first ones to fly abroadC. The employer requires an additional sum, usually less than 10,000 pesos for him to be able to fly into the PhilippinesD. Accreditation of the job offer is taking longer than usualE. Any other reason or a combination of above
Weeks turn to months and suddenly the agency also becomes frantic to answer the queries of numerous applicants.
The Enemy Abroad
Things become clearer, you’ve become victim of a complicated scam that also targets the POEA licensed agencies. What is supposed to be an assurance of authenticity is used against you. The scammer here happens to be a person (or group of people) abroad pretending to be an employer. Complex scams also use fake job agencies/visa offices abroad into an elaborate communication net that drags in the manager of a POEA licensed agency.
Scammers will pretend to be the employer, a job agency abroad and visa office at the same time. They will take turns contacting the agency manager and laying in the ground work which also snags in applicants along with the POEA licensed agency. A promise of a “commission” sweetens the deal for the agencies so they keep on finding applicants. Less honest agencies can also charge a “blind fee” of anywhere from 5,000 pesos to more than 10,000 on top of what the employer is asking.
So why just a small amount? By asking only a small amount, it won’t trigger the suspicions of the applicant and the agency manager. What they’re not seeing is the number of applicants that have answered the job ad. One scammer can net in more than 100 applicants. A determined one can juggle several POEA licensed agencies with 100 or more applicants from each agency. Small things add up and you may be snagged into a multi-million scam.
A similar scam which uses multiple persons/agencies is the love scam where in a suitor from abroad says he/she is sending money and several expensive items via courier to his/her partner. Then someone from the courier will call the partner that the customs have held on to the items and require to pay taxes. An elaborate version is someone pretending to be a customs officer will also call to confirm the required payment of taxes which lulls the partner into parting with sums up to 25,000 pesos and more.
How to Check if the Job Ad is a Scam
Go through the following steps to avoid being sucked in by a fraudulent job ad.- Check the POEA license of the agency. This is the first step. Also inquire directly with POEA or check their updates first because the POEA sometimes posts lists of agencies with their licenses revoked before it is even updated in their databanks. You can check online via the POEA website search tool. Just type the name of the agency.
- If you are talking to a person instead of an agency, tell him/her to take you to the actual agency office first and look at their POEA license. Some people act like brokers/fixers who then charge hidden “fees” which is different from the agency fees. This should be a red flag for you not to continue especially if you will be meeting outside of an office. Frequently they will use fast food establishments such as Jollibee, McDonalds and more. If they don’t give out their full name is also another warning sign.
- If the person insists on taking care of you, ask for her/his accreditation with POEA that allows them the handle job adverts. If they don’t have any or can’t produce anything, go to the nearest POEA and request a certification if the person is allowed to process any job offers abroad. POEA will also issue a certificate saying that person is not allowed. There’s no online checking for individuals which is why dealing with a person instead of the actual agency is a warning sign. If they claim that they are still being accredited or the agency is being accredited, don’t think twice in turning your back on the job ad.
- Get to know your supposed employer. Do not be intimidated by the agency if they say everything is confidential. You are supposed to know who you are working for. Even if it is direct hire or name hire. Once you have the information, do not call/email them with the contacts provided. Most likely those are the contact details of the scammer. Try to look for the company of your employer (through google or government websites of the country) and call the company and ask for details. Most company human resource departments will tell you immediately if the employer is looking for overseas workers. An example is the fake medical director of Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH). It’s a classic scam that has victimized Nigerians, Indians and other nationalities. The fake employer pretends to be the medical director of QEH and contacts a national licensed agency. With the help of another fake foreign employment agency (possibly the same scammer), they fraud the licensed agency into looking for applicants.
- If the employer is from a company or government institution, always check the email address or contact details they are using. Sometimes the scammer will try to mimic official looking email with the use of free email services such as gmail, yahoomail, hotmail etc. An example again is the infamous Queen Elizabeth Hospital scam where the fake employer uses the email info.queen.elizabeth.hospital@gmail.com – this email is still active and the scammer will reply on how to apply through her as a pharmacist, nurse or any other allied health personnel. To avoid this, search for the name of the company online and try to find their official websites. The companies use official emails such as the QEH that uses the National Health System email or ****@nhs.net. Another example is the flight attendant recruitment scam where the scammer used a fake email to pretend to be part of an airline company. Contact details or numbers can also be faked. Do not call those number because it’s highly likely the scammer or accomplice will answer and try to convince you. Again, look for the official company number via government websites or official company websites.
- Your first step should be processing with POEA after receiving the necessary documents such as contract from your employer. Any other process such as medical exam first is highly suspicious. You can check the guidelines here provided by Workabroad.ph
- Never sign a contract unless if it’s verified by POEA and DOLE. You can read the guidelines for direct hire for more information.
You can also print the official guidelines from POEA with regards direct hire and name hire. Very important documents that can guide you in making the right decision.
- POEA guidelines for Direct Hire (PDF file)– For applicants read chapter IV onwards
- POEA guidelines for Name Hire (PDF file)– Actual process and the documents needed
As you can see, both direct hire/name hire requires you to know who your employer is and for you to get actual documents that have gone through POEA first.
How to Check if You are Being Scammed
If you are unfortunate enough to have answered a job advert and are currently processing your papers, here’s a checklist to see if you are being scammed by a fake employer:- The agency/employer ignores any required tests/certifications such as IELTS, NCLEX, HAAD. Do not be fooled, most employers abroad will require these tests and oftentimes, the embassy of the country you will be working in will be the ones requiring it.
- You are immediately hired even if your profession requires licenses such as nurses, engineers and more. A classic example is a job advert for UK nurses. It’s not true that you can work immediately as nurses. You need to go through the regulatory board of UK for nurses before you can work. Even jobs like carpentry, chef and more require experience validated by job certificates or at best a TESDA certification.
- You will be asked to pay several small amounts. Embassies from other countries such as Canada advises strongly not to pay for any fee if you’re looking for a job unless if it’s for VISA processing. Even so, you will be paying VISA fees directly to the embassies or government agencies such as POEA. Not to the employer or agency. If the agency asks for money such as a broker’s fee for connecting you with your employer, it is up to you to pay for it. The amount should not be exorbitant or overpriced and you should be issued an OFFICIAL RECEIPT. This is an important document that will help you if things go awry.
- The employer is always “coming soon” and/or has never showed up. At most they will have a skype interview. Elaborate scammers can always use a dummy person to pretend as an employer. Don’t be starstruck when facing foreigners online or in person. If you can, snap a picture of the employer, you can use that to confirm with the company via the official website email if the person is the employer or not.
- As time passes, you will be baited by offer of employment letters and even work permits. The documents often look like official documents. Don’t be dissuaded by your agency from checking the documents with the corresponding embassy. Here’s a tip, work permits are not supposed to be issued at all by the employer. The offer letters should be certified by POEA. Click here for the PDF on direct hiring or name hiring. Sometimes the documents will be released one by one to tease you into waiting longer until you realize that you’ve waited for more than three months.
- You are asked to give up your passport. It is not advisable to give up your passport for any reason. It should always be returned to you immediately.
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