Sophisticated tricks to scam jobs

(Baonghean) - Grasping the need for jobs, the subjects introduced themselves as having many relationships, "boasting" that they were high-ranking officials, brothers of leaders to lure people into the trap to appropriate property.

Job scams abound

Looking for a job for his daughter, in June 2015, through an acquaintance, Mr. Tran Xuan Tung, residing in Thanh My commune (Thanh Chuong) learned about Nguyen Van Dinh (residing in hamlet 9, Nghi Phong commune, Nghi Loc district). Dinh boasted that he had many acquaintances so he could get a job for his daughter who had just graduated from the Banking Academy to work at a hospital in Vinh city.

Like “drowning with a stake”, Mr. Tung called Dinh and was told by Dinh that the cost of applying for a job for his son would be 150 million VND to work as an accountant for a hospital, and if he agreed, he would have to deposit 50 million VND. Just a few days later, at an acquaintance’s house, Mr. Tung gave 50 million VND and a set of documents to give to Dinh. With the intention of appropriating Mr. Tung’s money, Dinh continued to trick him into taking another 100 million VND from Mr. Tung. In total, the amount of money Dinh appropriated from Mr. Tung was 150 million VND.

Mr. Nguyen Huy Chat and his daughter told the story of how Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh swindled them out of their property with the promise of finding a job for their daughter. Photo: Nguyen Hung

Mr. Tung was not the only victim who was scammed by Nguyen Van Dinh using sophisticated tricks. Dinh himself used to work for a labor export company. Taking advantage of his relationships with many people, Dinh came up with the idea of ​​appropriating money by creating an account “vieclamnghean123” and posting information about recruiting workers with the aim of tricking workers into applying for jobs. After scamming many people, because the victims were desperate to get their money back but were unable to pay, Dinh fled the area and turned himself in just a few months later. Although he had scammed many people out of hundreds of millions of dong, Dinh said that if he had the chance, he would continue to scam others to have money to spend.

“At first, I created an account on social media to scam people out of money, but I didn’t think it would be that easy. When I saw many people asking for money, I was afraid of being reported to the police, so I returned some of the money to the victims. I spent the rest of the money, so I couldn’t pay anymore,” Dinh said frankly when he was brought to trial in court.

Mr. Nguyen Huy Chat, residing in Nghi Truong commune (Nghi Loc), has been knocking on the doors of many authorities for over a year in the hope of getting back the 150 million VND he was scammed out of. Once in Quan Hanh town (Nghi Loc), Mr. Chat heard about Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh (Cua Nam ward, Vinh city) - a person who can apply for a job in state agencies. Having a child who just graduated from university with a medical degree but has not found a job yet, Mr. Chat contacted Ngoc Anh and was told that she would apply for his child to work at a provincial hospital.

Handwritten documents of money receipt between Mr. Chat and Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh. Photo: Nguyen Hung

On July 15, 2016, Mr. Chat and his daughter went to meet Ngoc Anh at his home on Ho Han Thuong Street, Cua Nam Ward (Vinh City). Ngoc Anh promised to help Mr. Chat's daughter get a job as a nurse at Nghe An Oncology Hospital. After 2 weeks, he would definitely have a contract and after 6 months, he would be officially employed.

Because he trusted the above promise, Mr. Chat gave Ngoc Anh a total of 150,000,000 VND twice. After that, knowing that he had been scammed, and after many unsuccessful attempts to get his money back, Mr. Chat wrote a complaint to the police against Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh for fraud and property appropriation. Until now, Ngoc Anh has been sentenced to 8 years in prison, but Mr. Chat has not yet recovered the money he was scammed.

Sophisticated tricks

It can be said that the situation of fraud in the form of running errands for government agencies is on the rise. Due to the huge pressure of applying for jobs in government agencies but the recruitment quota is limited, many families find ways to "run jobs" for their children. Where there is demand, there is supply, many job-running networks are formed, many subjects "expose" themselves and then go to scam to appropriate money from victims.

According to the police, the tricks of job scammers are not new, but because of the need for jobs, victims blindly believe in the promises made by the subjects. Many even introduce others, causing many people to fall into the trap.

To gain the trust of those who need help, the criminals claim to have extensive connections; some even boast that they are relatives of leaders of agencies or officers of large units to gain the trust of their victims. Along with their ability to speak fluently, the criminals also gain the trust of others with their elegant, stylish appearance and generous lifestyle.

Nguyen Van Dinh at the trial. Photo: Nguyen Hung

Although the tricks of the scammers are not new, when there is a report, the investigation and verification process is also very difficult, because when exchanging and agreeing, it is only a civil transaction, the subject is very cautious when exchanging and receiving money, only stating that it is borrowed for personal use, or only writing a debt receipt to circumvent the law when the authorities investigate. When being scammed, many victims do not dare to report the scammers to the police because they are afraid that even if they report, they will not be able to get their money back. Therefore, many victims have to swallow their pride and wait for the "bestowal" of the person who scammed them.

Mr. Nguyen Huy Chat said: “When I realized I had been scammed, I went to Ms. Ngoc Anh’s house many times to ask for my money back, but she kept putting me off. If I had reported her to the police earlier, I might have gotten my money back. When I reported her, I found out that Ms. Ngoc Anh had scammed many other people and appropriated hundreds of millions of dong.”

Faced with the above situation, people need to be vigilant and should not rush to put absolute trust in brokers. When there is a recruitment plan, agencies will have to publicly announce it on the mass media. Therefore, each person, when in need of employment for their relatives, needs to contact the recruitment agencies directly to get the most accurate information, to avoid the situation of losing money but still not getting a job.

In particular, agencies and units need to seriously, publicly and transparently implement the recruitment of workers at agencies and units, avoiding loopholes for subjects to exploit for fraud. In addition, it is necessary to further strengthen the inspection and supervision of civil servants, especially those assigned to sensitive positions such as recruitment, recruitment and organizational staff.

Nguyen Hung