Recruiters in fake London 'hotel' offer fake jobs

Don't get duped by recruiters for a company claiming to be operating in the United Kingdom that have been enticing Filipino workers for non-existent hotel jobs in London such as receptionists, cashiers, waiters,and waitresses. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Monday that it was a scam done through modern technology. "We strongly forewarn unwary OFWs and would-be OFWs, as well as the legitimate OFW recruitment industry in the Philippines, against being enticed and victimized by this and similar scams currently proliferating in the world wide web," said Labor Secretary Arturo Brion. According to Brion, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in London, UK, identified the spurious hotel as "Crystal Spring Hotel UK," which had e-mailed a licensed recruitment agency in the Philippines on its offer to become a "prospective employer" of OFWs. Labor Attache to London Jainal Rasul, Jr., however, said that upon examination by the POLO, the "hotel's" scanned documents including Certificate of Registration, Special Power of Attorney, and Demand Letter, indicated a "patent scam" to dupe OFWs and the legitimate recruitment industry, based on the following evidence: *** The stamps appearing on the documents purportedly bearing the seals of the POLO and the Philippine Embassy in London are all fake, including the scanned signature of the Ambassador, who does not authenticate verification documents at all; *** The "hotel," in its demand letter, requires positions such as receptionists, cashiers, waiters and waitresses, which are not open to non-European Union (EU) workers; *** The purported certificate of registration of Crystal Springs Hotel appears like a World War II Veterans' Certificate bearing the superimposed logos of Scotland, Kirkwall, and the UK; *** The registration date is 1994, which means it had not been renewed for 13 years; and, *** Aside from the dubious postal code in its text of registration, a Googles search in the Internet has revealed that no Crystal Springs Hotel exists in London. Rasul cited a licensed recruitment agency in the Philippines, Worldview International Services, Inc., for linking up with the POLO to ascertain the "hotel's" authenticity, and in the process, helped prevent victimizing OFWs and legitimate recruitment agencies. It was not immediately known if the people behind this scam through the Internet has managed to victimize Filipinos already because the concerned government agencies found out their operation. On March 19, Brion first issued the warning on Filipino workers and licensed recruitment agencies against fraudulent recruitment schemes enticing jobseekers with non-existent overseas jobs through the Internet. He advised Filipinos, especially those seeking overseas jobs, to take extreme caution in dealing with job offers through the Internet in the light of a surge in fraudulent recruitment schemes circulating in the worldwide web. Brion cited a report from POLO in London which received quite a number of e-mail requests from Filipino jobseekers asking for assistance in verifying the authenticity of job offers in the United Kingdom. He said that most of the Filipino applicants were asked to remit fees allegedly for work permit processing in exchange for high-paying jobs and attractive benefits being offered by UK employers. The DOLE chief said that the job offers were non-existent in view of the fact that UK employers as a rule do not ask for money or payment from applicants to secure a job including work permit and visas. He advised the workers to verify first the authenticity of Internet job offers not only with the POLO onsite but also with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration. Brion also said that even recruitment agencies in the Philippines were not spared from scams perpetrated through the Internet, citing some agencies which reportedly receiving fake manpower requests and UK employers' registration papers from unscrupulous Internet operators. In his earlier report to the DOLE, Rasul enumerated some of the schemes being used in defrauding unwitting applicants through the Net which are as follows: *** Sending "appointment letters" to would-be victims and asking them to send money to travel agencies to arrange for their travel requirements, including visas; *** Use of mobile phone or email as a means to contact the alleged employer/agent (scammer) without giving any landline number, or if there is one, it cannot be contacted; *** Designation of unauthorized third parties or agents, and in some cases, alleged UK immigration officers, to process their work permit applications and visas; *** Use of scanned recruitment documents such as special power of attorney, recruitment agreement, manpower request, and business or registration papers; and *** Giving fake websites that purportedly contain employers' information and other details which are expectedly incorrect. "To avoid being victimized by these scams, applicants must make sure that the jobs actually exist by checking on the website of the employer, its complete address, post code and contract details through search engines like Googles, etc. They should not deal with employers with no verifiable contact details," Rasul said. "Job seekers also must always be skeptical of Internet employment offers that appear to be "too good to be true", such as huge salary offer, free accommodation and food, and free use of amenities." Rasul also said that applicants must require the employer to send their employment contracts to the Labor Office of the Philippine Embassy in London for the required verification and authentication. - GMANews.TV