Hyderabad: The regional passport office (RPO) on Thursday warned overseas job aspirants against falling prey to fraudsters or agents, who coerce workers to persist in difficult and life-threatening situations, citing a surge in frauds coinciding with accelerated employment opportunities for Indians in overseas markets since the Covid-19 curbs were eased.
Officials said that fraudsters, posing as consultancy services, lure job
seekers through social media platforms and text messaging services, charge them exorbitant amounts under the guise of charges for job processing and leave victims to fend for themselves.
The RPO said it came across such cases in several East European countries, many Gulf countries, Central Asia, Israel, Canada, Myanmar and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
Jonnalagadda Snehaja, the regional passport officer who took charge last month, in a slew of directions, directed officials to deliver passports sooner and be vigilant over a huge rise in the number of overseas job-seekers being cheated by unregistered recruitment agents by fake job offers and scamsters who overcharge aspirants to the tune of Rs 2-5 lakh.
“These unregistered/illegal agents operate without obtaining licence from the ministry of external affairs, which is mandatory for any recruitment for work abroad. These agencies provide little or no details of their whereabouts and contacts. They usually communicate only through WhatsApp, making it difficult to ascertain the location and identity of the caller and the genuineness of the job offer,” Snehaja was quoted as saying.
Job seekers were advised to use the services of only registered recruiting agents (RAs), who display their licence number prominently in their offices and advertisements.
“Prospective emigrants are advised to crosscheck the genuineness of the RA by visiting the government website www.emigrate.gov.in and click the link ‘List of active RA’. As per the Emigration Act, 1983, no recruiting agent shall collect from the prospective emigrant the service charges more than Rs 30,000 + GST, in respect to services provided by it to that emigrant and the recruiting agent shall issue a receipt to the emigrant for the amount collected by it in this regard,” the RPO said.
Going abroad through any other channel of recruitment involves serious risk of being defrauded of money, not landing in the promised job and difficult living conditions abroad. “All unregistered agencies are being warned not to involve in overseas recruitment activities. Such activities are in violation of Emigration Act, 1983, and amount to human trafficking, which is a punishable criminal offence,” the RPO said.
