Aren’t job brokers trying to rob me of my money?

A job advert in a newspaper has a phone number to call. When you call, you are asked to go with about Shs50,000 for registration. Are job brokers who ask for money genuine? Joan

Dear Joan,
Job hunting after many years of unemployment can be daunting especially the pressure of finding suitable vacancies, preparing for the interviews and successfully securing the job. There is also a hurdle of recruitment fraudsters who prey on the job seekers’ vulnerability by asking for upfront payments to be shortlisted for the job interview and offering fake jobs.

The fraudsters might outrightly ask for money and pretend to be on the recruitment panel or know someone on the panel. They usually call candidates using names of reputable companies which give the scam an air of legitimacy and sometimes pretend to head hunt individuals who have good work experience and are looking for greener pastures.
They will study your CV and select one of your referees and do a thorough research on him/her. The unsuspecting referee will be contacted for a referral or a recommendation for their target and at this point the fraudster is easily trusted since they have all the necessary information.

It is important to be vigilant if you are being offered a job with a great pay over the phone without any prior application, interview, or discussion with the employer, the email address used is personal or slightly similar to the legitimate company and the position has no clear job description. Always ascertain the website security before entering personal information; the address should be https:// not http://

Alice Nankya L. Nsibuka
HR business partner
NMG - Uganda
[email protected]