The Dubai Police have recently arrested a gang of job scammers who created a fake recruitment agency to scam job seekers into transferring money for fake job opportunities.

According to Brigadier Jamal Salem Al Jalaf, Director of the General Department of Criminal Investigation (CID) at Dubai Police, the gang would lure victims by posting fake job opportunities with attractive salaries, and then ask the victim for money for some alleged reasons such as recruitment fees, taxes or booking an interview appointment. He pointed out that in light of the COVID-19 global pandemic and the rise in the number of job seekers, the gang managed to defraud 150 individuals.

“The General Department of Criminal Investigations in Dubai Police monitors such gangs as well as fake advertisements through its specialized departments namely the Economic Crimes Control Department” Brig. Al Jalaf reaffirmed.

Brig. Al Jalaf called on job-seekers to be on the guard against fake employment schemes. He further explained that actual hiring agencies never ask for payments or any sensitive personal data that can be used to scam job seekers.

Colonel Salah Jumaa Bousaiba, Director of the Economic Crimes Control Department, they received a tip-off on a fake recruitment agency located in Dubai and run by an Asian man. “The suspects had published ads across social media platforms promising job seekers with tempting job opportunities and attractive salaries,” “They asked unwary applicants for a payment (AED 1000 to AED3000) of a certain ‘fee’ to process the job application. In the end, the job-seeker would find out that no such position ever existed,” Col Bousaiba explained.

Captain Ahmad Suhail Al Samahi, Director of Anti-Fraud Department, explained that one of the victims was deceived into paying Dhs3000 in return for a bogus job vacancy, a work visa and change status fees.

Captain Al Samahi said they formed a raid team and coordinated with inspectors from the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation to verify the information and make the arrest. “Our team arrested the suspects, and seized payment receipts and slips condemning the gang’s illegal activities,” he added.

He pointed out that investigations concluded that the agency had only one person under its sponsorship, and was managed by the defendants as a fake employment company where they used to collect the largest amount of money from the victims.