GEORGE NEWS - One should never pay money when applying for employment. This was the hard lesson learnt by a number of Georgians after they fell victim to a recent recruitment scam.

According to the victims who spoke to George Herald, the scammers, three women, pretend to be either from a Johannesburg- or Cape Town-based company opening a new branch in George.

In two previous incidents they pretended to be from companies called Vector Logistics, looking for an assistant warehouse manager, or Woodside Care Centre looking for a laboratory assistant.

Both these companies confirmed that they are not opening branches in or near George and have no knowledge of interviews being conducted here.

"Asking potential employees or applicants to pay for a job application might not be illegal, but it is most definitely unethical," said Marc Dochez of ABC Recruitment. "Red flags should start to pop up when you are asked to pay for a job application or for a police clearance certificate done on your behalf," he said.

Modus operandi

Applicants are required to pay a certain amount, in the above cases R190 or R240, in order for the company to allegedly obtain a police clearance certificate. After the first interview and on confirmation that the applicant is a successful candidate, he or she is asked to pay another amount, in some cases up to R1 800, 10% of their prospective salary, to take part in a second interview – an interview that never happens.

"These women have scammed a lot of people. At one interview there were about 80 people and at another, 40," said one of the victims from George who was scammed out of more than R2 000.

"When we got there [for the second interview] there was no one there and their phones were also off. We have definitely been scammed. Many people came back for the second interview, so that means all of us paid R1 800," said the victim. Attempts to get his money back from the scammers afterwards were unsuccessful. 

"I spoke to them on WhatsApp. First they said that I can get my money back, but then they had all kinds of excuses as to why they can't give it to me in cash. I wasn't going to give them my banking details. After I called them out as scammers, they blocked me and disappeared," he said.

Rented boardrooms

The scammers have been renting boardrooms in George to conduct the "interviews" with the applicants.

In one such case, St John's Place in Dormehlsdrift was used. After the interviews were conducted last week, the "successful candidates" were asked to pay an amount of R1 800 and come back to St John's Place for a medical assessment on Wednesday morning, 22 March.

The owner of the establishment said she had absolutely no idea what the scammers were up to, but she became a little suspicious at some stage. "They were supposed to come back [on the day] and conduct further interviews, but they didn't. We've had a lot of people arriving who they made appointments with," she said.

Another establishment in Erica Road in Heatherlands was apparently also used for interviews.

A victim who went for his initial interview at the house in Erica Road, told George Herald that he saw a job advertised by Vector Logistics on the employment website, Indeed. He applied for the job and they contacted him for the interview.

He too had to pay R190 for a police clearance and the following day was asked to pay another R240 for police clearance for another position they had available. 

He realised that something was wrong and went to speak to them at St John's Place to get his money back - but the so-called recruiters were nowhere to be seen, and neither was their money.

Be wary

Job opportunities in George are hard to come by, but job seekers are reminded to be vigilant at all times. Be sceptical when you are asked to make payments to a future employer. If something seems too good to be true, it normally is.

Anyone who has fallen victim to such a scam is asked to please report the matter to the nearest police station.

:Screenshots of a conversation between the alleged scammers and a victim trying to get his money back. 

‘We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news’