Beware of job scams

"Matrix" of job hunting traps

March 2020,the incidentThe Vinh City Police Department successfully broke a fraud case, arrested two subjects Tran Van Quan (born in 1987), residing in Truong Thi ward, Vinh city and Tran Anh Tuan (born in 1984), residing in Xuan Hai commune, Nghi Xuan district, Ha Tinh province to investigate the act of fraud and property appropriation, once again sounding the alarm bell for the situation.job scamin recent times. Taking advantage of the gullibility of many people, especially those who are looking for jobs, in just a short time, these two subjects together staged and forged many documents and seals of many businesses and state agencies to issue fake recruitment decisions, appropriating nearly 20 billion VND from more than 200 victims in the two provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh.

According to the investigation agency, the trick of these two subjects in deceiving people to get jobs and take their money is not new, even though they still use the same old trick, but hundreds of victims still fall into the trap, because the above subjects discussed with each other, set up recruitment dramas to target gullible people.

Quan and Tuan impersonated local agencies and organizations, posting fake recruitment information on social networks, along with phone numbers to "recruit workers and jobs". When the victims came to submit their applications, depending on the job position and the agency or recruiting unit that the victims wanted, these subjects would offer different prices, the lowest being 50 million VND and the highest being hundreds of millions of VND. Immediately after the victims trusted, submitted their applications and agreed to the "price" given by the subjects, Tran Anh Tuan would pretend to be the head of the human resources department of the agencies and organizations; then rent locations at hotels and shopping centers to organize interviews.

Vinh City Police searched and arrested subject (X) in a recruitment drama ring, embezzling 20 billion VND. Photo: Ha Thu

More sophisticatedly, these subjects also carry out sophisticated tricks such as scanning, photocopying recruitment documents, even forging the seals of many units, then editing the information to match the application documents of the victims. For those who pass the interview round, they announce that they have been accepted, then complete the labor contract and send it back to the victim and set a date to start working. However, in all these cases, when receiving the recruitment decision, on the appointed day to start working, they are shocked when the recruiting agency says that they have no need, and also do not issue these decisions.

Based on the collected evidence and documents, by the afternoon of March 18, the Task Force had organized an emergency arrest of the above subjects. Searching the private homes and some locations that these subjects rented to conduct interviews and review documents, the authorities seized 218 sets of documents, 1 car, 1 laptop, 5 mobile phones, many types of documents, fake seals and 1 billion 150 million VND in cash. From the subjects' statements and reports of the victims, the Task Force determined that the amount of money the subjects appropriated was up to about 20 billion VND from more than 200 victims in the area.

In fact, in recent years, taking advantage of opportunities, job positions in state agencies are increasingly difficult, the number of students graduating but not yet able to find jobs, many subjects have found ways to connect to trick people into applying for jobs, including many people without a profession, stable jobs but still claiming to be officials of departments and branches, having many close relationships with provincial leaders, capable of applying for jobs, "running" for positions. The purpose is to make the victims believe, transfer money and then take it.

Statistics show that recently the victimstricked into running a businessThe number of people who have been scammed into hospitals in Nghe An province is large, hundreds of people have become victims, with the amount of money stolen reaching tens of billions of VND. Of which, the two large-scale cases of job scams in hospitals in Nghe An province, with the largest number of victims ever uncovered, are the cases of Tran Ngoc Tuyen (born in 1959) and Le Thi Tuyet (born in 1979), both residing in Nghi Kim commune, Vinh city, who scammed 33 victims for jobs and appropriated the property of more than 4.8 billion VND, which were eradicated in June 2020, and the case of Tran Thi Phuong (born in 1962), residing in Hung Binh ward, Vinh city, who scammed and appropriated more than 60 victims for more than 10 billion VND.

In 2020, the police forces of units and localities in Nghe An province discovered, prosecuted and investigated 45 cases, 51 defendants for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property". Of which, there were 24 cases with 28 criminals using high technology.

Raise awareness

Lieutenant Colonel Cao Anh Hong - Deputy Head of the Criminal Police Department of Nghe An Province Police warned that the current composition of job scammers is relatively diverse and complicated. In addition to some people who do not have stable jobs, "exploit" themselves as officials of departments and branches or some members are retired officials, currently some people who have stable jobs also participate in "running" jobs. When the incident is exposed, there is no job, the money is not returned when the victim reports to the authorities, then it is inevitable that they will be in trouble with the law.

That is the story of Ms. Vi Thi Hoa (born in 1972), a teacher at Dinh Son Secondary School, Anh Son District. Although she was not able to find a job, but because she needed money for personal expenses, this female teacher received 860 million VND from 5 victims to help 6 people get jobs at hospitals and schools in the area, then appropriated and spent it for personal expenses. Another case is Cao Thi Thanh Vinh (born in 1983), residing in Le Mao Ward, Vinh City, an officer of the North Central Geological Federation, but Vinh claimed to be a police officer, able to apply for jobs at state agencies. With this "label", the subject committed fraud 3 times, appropriating 310 million VND.

The victim in the recruitment drama, appropriating 20 billion VND reported to the police. Photo: Ha Thu

To avoid being scammed, the simplest but most effective way to verify that anyone can do is to directly contact the agencies and units that the subjects are promising to be able to apply for a job, see if the recruitment position is real or not, then you will know the truth. However, almost no victims do this. When they know they have been scammed, they put pressure on themselves to get their money back, and when they do not achieve their goal, they report to the authorities, but the probability of getting their money back is very low.

According to a senior investigator of the Provincial Police Department, the methods of the subjects in fraud and property appropriation cases, specifically in cases related to job-seeking, although there are many different tricks, the tricks are still the same old tricks. According to current regulations, when there is a recruitment plan, agencies and departments must publicly announce it on mass media. Therefore, more than anyone else, in order to not become victims of this scam, first of all, people who want to apply for jobs for their children and siblings must carefully research the recruitment information of the place where they intend to find work.

Along with that, local authorities and functional agencies also need to have propaganda and warning plans to raise people's awareness of the tricks of bad guys. When there are signs of fraud, it is necessary to promptly report to the nearest police agency for timely detection and prevention. Only then will the crime of property fraud in general and the crime of "job-running fraud" not have a "place to live" as it is today.