Philippine officials in Rome issued an advisory to warn aspiring overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) against fake email offers for various jobs in Italy. Apparently, the bogus email promises various employment opportunities supposedly for the reconstruction project of L’Aquila in Italy.

A 6.2-magnitude earthquake caused great damage to L’Aquila, a mountainous city in Italy last April 2009. This natural calamity claimed the lives of over 260 people and left 28,000 homeless.

The reconstruction project that would provide many job opportunities is supposedly under the Auspices of World Rehabilitation Program (WRP) and Italian Freedom Corps (IFC). The Philippine Embassy in Rome also informed that the swindlers use the email address projecto_laquila@rome.com and the office address “Via Sicilia 162/C.”

Read more about the job scam in Italy.

The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia issued an advisory to warn overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to be wary of a new email scam that is set to victimize them. The email may appear to be authentic and valid because it claims to be from the Philippine Embassy in Muscat, Oman.

The email message is informing the OFW recipients that they had won a bonanza of 500,000 pounds (Php 35.596 million). To claim this prize, the letter sender is requesting for the personal information of the OFW recipients.

Click here to read more about the new email scam.

The Department of Labor And Employment released an advisory against an online recruitment scam that targets Filipino workers who wish to work in Malaysia. According to the Labor Chief., Rosalinda Baldoz, the scammers send an email to potential victims with the pretension that the message came from the Malaysian Immigration Department. The recipient is informed of a pending appointment letter from a certain Mobil Oil Company. The said email is also requesting the recipient to send visa processing fees so their working visa can be processed.

Read more about this email recruitment scam that offers jobs in Malaysia.

There is an email ithat sends bogus job offers to applicants using the email address info@workabroad.com. From the subject line of the email, the sender pretends to be an agency from Europe and it is able to attract applicants by details of a fake job opportunity in a European country such as Ireland. The message also requires the applicant to submit a set of personal requirements which can be obtained only upon paying EUR32 or Php1920.

The email address used is very similar to the website address of a legitimate overseas job portal- WorkAbroad.ph that a number of applicants assumed that the email comes from WorkAbroad.ph.

In connection with this, the website issued an announcement that the email from info@WORKABROAD.com with a subject line Your European Placement Team IS NOT from www.WorkAbroad.ph. WorkAbroad.ph is using email@workabroad.ph in corresponding to its applicants.

Click here to know how to avoid being a victim of email scam.

I am reposting this because recently there have been many inquiries about job offers that are being sent via email.

If you receive an overseas job offer via email, beware. Email scams are proliferating offering high paying jobs to overseas multinational companies. Here is how to detect an email scam:

1. You will be told that they found your resume through a job bank.
2. The company will require you to undergo a seminar/training fee.
3. You will be tasked to pay a reservation fee, OWWA membership and other taxes.

Once you have paid the amount, the person will simply disappear without communication.

To protect yourself from these types of frauds, check and verify the existence of the company and call up the person who sent you the email using the office number of the company.