Lately, scammers have been writing to seafarers through social networks or messengers, offering various types of services. It is not difficult to spot a scam. It mainly features services that are always paid in advance and rush!
In every possible way, scammers will encourage you to quickly sign and send documents, pay for services, and transfer funds to personal cards. At the same time, scammers will promise the most attractive conditions for you - a “hot” vacancy, a high salary, and flight tickets almost in your pocket! If any problems arise, everything will be “solved” for you. In brief, you do not have to think or worry about anything; you just need to send your money as soon as possible.
If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, stop and think:
- Do you trust this crewing agency or person who are imposing their services on you?
- Is the vacancy and terms of employment offered to you too attractive?
- Are you sure that you are going to pay for employment intermediaries, and not a life lesson on spotting a scam?
HOW TO CHECK YOUR EMPLOYER?
To make sure that the company or person who is writing to you actually is intermediary for employment abroad, we recommend the following:
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Do not hurry. Take time and carefully think about the proposal. Seek your colleagues’ or relatives’ advice.
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Ask the company for registration documents confirming their business is legal. This may be an extract from state registers.
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Check whether the phone number from which they are calling/writing you matches one of the phone numbers listed on the company’s official website.
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If they do not match, then call the numbers listed on the official website and find out whether such an employee works for them and whether the vacancy they are offering is open.
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Search the Internet for references about the company. On Ukrcrewing.com.ua you may ask for feedback about companies from seafarers who worked for them.
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In the next article, we will describe in detail the several latest scams that have occurred with seafarers.