On the hunt for UK jobs? Beware of bogus job agents

An increasing number of students and jobseekers wanting to travel to the UK have fallen victim to scams by so-called recruitment agencies prompting them to complain to the Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau and the British High Commission. The British High Commission during the past three months received as many as 20-30 complaints prompting them to issue a public warning this week to be wary of bogus recruitment agencies offering jobs and visas.

The Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau too has been trying to track down those responsible for fraudulently collecting money to send persons to UK, the Bureau’s Director SSP H.K.S. Pinidiya said. In one instance the Bureau has received as many as 16 complaints against one agent who had operated from Bambalapitiya and fled the country without refunding the money or arranging visas.

In one such complaint a person seeking a job had been required to pay Rs. 5,500,000 only to be taken for a ride. In another incident, a jobseeker from Homagama said after he paid the money to the recruitment agent, he lost all contact with it. He had then lodged a complaint at the Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau. However, later he approached another recruitment agency and eventually received a work visa.Officials at the Fraud Investigation Bureau explained that that the so-called recruitment agencies approach the public via advertisements offering advice and help on getting visas, gaining admittance to educational institutions, employment opportunities and sponsorships.

Once a potential student or jobseeker contacts the agencies they are told to pay large sums of money often ranging from Rs. 2,000,000 – Rs 5,000,000 or even some times more, officials at the Fraud Bureau said.

In some cases fraudulent documents such as bank statements and educational documents are prepared by the agents. SSP Pinidiya said that there were a considerable number of such illegitimate or unregistered agencies operating in the country and warned the people to be cautious when approaching recruitment agencies. He went on to explain that the most vulnerable group of people were the low-income earners and those who lacked proper education. “These people then find themselves in a worse economic condition than before ,” he said said adding that investigations relating to these cases were being carried out.

A British High Commission spokesperson said many visas had been rejected due to forged documents being forwarded. He warned people not to hand in money or their passports to recruitment agents and to be vigilant and check that the agents are registered with the ‘Recruitment and Employment Confederation’, which could be accessed via their website www.rec.uk.com or by telephone 0044 20 7009 2100.

With regard to student visas, he added that a list of state schools, further education colleges, universities and independent schools which are registered can be accessed at www.edubase.gov.uk or www.dcsf.gov.uk/providersregister/search.cfm. Institutionscan be searched by using the name, address, postcode or telephone number of the particular college. Furthermore, the public could also search ‘The Register of Education and Training Providers’, which contain information relating to registered institutions in the UK. All colleges that want to recruit overseas students (excluding those which do not recruit students from outside the EU) would appear on this list. If a particular institution is not displayed on the list, it is probably not a registered college, in which case the applicant would be refused a visa to the UK.