Beware of Fake Job Offer Scams from the UAE

The United Arab Emirates has a problem with job scams; fake jobs with fake employers offered by scammers outside the country. If you are interested in working in the UAE, read this article which shows you how to Spot a Fake Job Offer.

The Typical Scam

There have been fake job offer scams for a long time in the United Arab Emirates, but most have been issued by imposters who have fraudulently used genuine company logos and names to attract innocent candidates into scams. The job offer is a bait to trick the candidate into sending money to travel or immigration agents to secure visas and work permits which are allegedly required to take up the position offered by the company and accepted by the candidate.

The agents naturally vanish once the funds have been remitted, the visa or work permit never arrives and the poor candidate eventually realises that the whole thing was an elaborate deception and that the job offer was fake. 

An Offer Too Good To Be True

An important red flag warning sign that you may have been enticed into a job scam is that the job offer is unusually exceptional with a salary and benefit package which is often double or triple the going rate, with first class travel and accommodation thrown in. When things look too good to be true, they are usually are! The job is usually offered without an interview too!

It has come to our attention that the scam has been taken to new heights by a hospital called MEDICAL CONSULTANCY CENTER (MCC) UAE. Has anyone heard of this hospital? It has its own website which ranks the number 1 slot in google and claims to be authorised by the Ministry of Health in Abu Dhabi, UAE. It boasts accreditation by the prestigious Joint Commission International (JCI) of the USA, flashing the gold JCIA badge on the home page of the website.

It promotes multiple services including paediatric checks, vaccinations for Hajj and Ummra, wellness check packages. laser vision correction, plastic surgery, endocrinology, dermatology and a history of excellence going back to its founding in 1981. It has photographs of many doctors in various specialisms with detailed biographies of their education, experience, skills and scope of practice. But is it real?

The Home Page of Medical Consulting Centre, Abu Dhabi, UAE

If one looks closely at the home page, the main contact number is a mobile phone +971 524973064. If you call this number, it is answered by a man who refuses to give his name. This is a giveaway because real hospitals have professional switchboard operators who are happy to confirm their identities. They also use landlines, not mobile phones.

Feel reassured by this?

Fake Job Offers - An Example

A candidate received the offer below  (visible and scrollable at the foot of the page).The offer is flanked by the hospital logo and various stamps and a reference number to confirm its alleged authenticity.

Its various terms are highlighted in red and blue ink and the offer seems to be wildly generous for such an apparently small hospital. The salary is paid in US dollars and not in the local Emirati dirham. This is another red flag; employers in the United Arab Emirates pay salaries into employee accounts with local banks in the Arab Emirates Dirham (AED) which is readily convertible to other currencies.

The job offer provides first class travel and accommodation and multiple other benefits. It is in monetary terms, better than the going rate for such a position in Abu Dhabi at the type of facility this organisation appears to be.

However, the hospital is a fake. A brief review of the website of the JCI lists all the accredited hospitals in the country and there is no mention of Medical Consultancy Clinic (MCC). A geographical search on google maps confirms the hospital is not listed at its stated address.

How To Spot Fake Job Offers

1: OFFER TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

• the salary and allowances are significantly higher than the going rates for similar jobs with employers of the same size and stature. If it looks to good to be true, it is usually fake. This is the bait to lure job seekers into the scam. Always research the market rate for jobs and have an idea of the range of remuneration package you can realistically expect.

2: MOBILE PHONE DETAILS:

• companies and hospitals always have landlines as official numbers, not mobile phone numbers.
• Mobile phone numbers can be recognised as starting with 5 after the country code which is +971.
• A landline will start with the emirate code after the country code which is 4 for Dubai, 3 for Al Ain and 2 for Abu Dhabi. 

3: FAKE COMPANY DETAILS:

• hospital identities can be checked on the website of the Joint Commission International if accredited by this prestigious international organisation. If the hospital does not bear this accreditation, its identity can be verified by the Ministry of Health. All hospitals and clinics in the UAE must be registered with and regulated by a formal state regulatory authority such as the Ministry of Health in Abu Dhabi and the Dubai Health Authority in Dubai. A quick check will verify the identity of a genuine healthcare facility.
• don't fall for a glossy website and assume that the company is authentic.

4: VISA AND WORK PERMIT FEES:

• the purpose of these job scams is act as a bait to extract money from the job seeker for immigration scams and fees.
• after signing the job offer, you will be asked to remit funds to a travel or visa agent based in the UAE, ostensibly to obtain the appropriate visa and work permit to allow you to take up the position which you have accepted.
• once the funds are remitted, all contact with the supposed hospital and visa agent will stop and you will realise that you have been conned. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to recover funds as most of the people who conduct job scams are located outside of the region.
• remember that genuine employers DO NOT refer international candidates to locally based immigration agents.
• if you need a visa, this will be processed in your country of origin.

 We hope this information will help to keep you safe and if you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact us for advice. 

Read this article about the job scams with Green Hospital Abu Dhabi, a fake hospital.

Fake Job Offer Document