Advisory on Online Job Recruitment Scams

3 October 2017 – The Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver would like to call attention to the rising incidence of fraudulent online recruitment schemes for jobs in Canada. The public is advised to be careful in dealing online with companies, persons or other entities offering jobs in Canada, as these may be a form of a job recruitment scam.

The following are some of the familiar modus operandi and features of a bogus or fraudulent online job offer:

• Unsolicited email from someone or some company who claims to have found your email online, and that your qualifications match their “job requirements”;
• High-paying jobs that require little or no experience;
• Poorly-constructed job offers of acceptance letters from the employer – e.g., grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors;
• Poor quality of graphics in the logos or email signatures used, often marked by mixed, colored fonts, low-resolution or pixelated images;
• Postal codes that do not match the address of the company;
• Telephone area codes that do not match the location of the company;
• Absence of “online footprint” of the company making the offer – i.e., it cannot be searched or found online, or if found, the information is derogatory;
• Payment of work visas is required to be made through the recruiting agency/company;
• Excessive/exorbitant fees charged to the applicant;
• Charging “admin fees” and direct deposit requirements;
• No mention of Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) applied for by the employer or other requirements prescribed for the processing of temporary work visa.

If any of these features are present, or if there is any doubt about the authenticity, validity or legality of the job offer, applicants or any interested parties are advised to consult with or report the matter to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) or the nearest Philippine Embassy, Consulate, or Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO). END