Bulmun Dakwal
Amidst the fast rising rate of unemployment in Nigeria, so many unemployed youths in the county who have been out and about in search of a decent job have unfortunately found themselves in the ugly shackles of scammers who are out to deceive and cheat innocent fellows who are in need and searching for a job.
Despite, the high rate of fraud activities engaged by the youths in the country, many others have chosen to trail the right path but unfortunately, they end up been victims of circumstances.
After several months of been unemployed, Paul Chukwunoso, found himself in an ordeal which left him traumatized for several months and made him always second guess offers that come his way no matter how genuine it may be.
It was on a fateful day in 2021, Paul was in his state (Delta) when he was contacted by a friend about a vacancy at the Federal Fire Service but the vacancy is to be sold to persons who are interested.
“It was really convincing to the extent that he even showed me names of people who have paid and those who were given the job.” Paul exclaimed.
The said friend sent him some of the slips. He also received a name and a number of an officer in the Federal Fire Service, who was said to be the one facilitating the job. He was also informed the job was a replacement due to the number of people who were no longer in service and needed to be replaced. He was told it was an internal employment, hence the job vacancy wasn’t made public.
“If you meet the criteria and everything, you are instructed to send your CV. When my friend reached out, he said the problem is that they are selling it and he contacted me as a friend. On the long run, the amount we were asked to pay was N1.3 million of which I paid. When I paid, he asked me to send him my details, my CV, certificate and other documents, which I did.” Paul explained.
A month later, Paul came down to Abuja, after he received an email telling him to come for verification exercise at the headquarters office.
To Paul, the whole process seemed genuine and based on trust considering the fact that the offer came from a friend whom he believed will not cheat him. He only realized that something was fishy when the Federal Fire Service sent him an email requesting that he goes for a verification exercise.
“The email was carrying federalfireservice@gmail.com which I sensed was fishy, I called my friend and told him my observations, I noted that if it’s a government organization, Gmail is not supposed to be used and he said no, that the government email doesn’t really work and this one is just a temporary mail made by one of the directors to reach out to us.”
Another point where Paul started to realized that there was a problem was when they were invited for a second verification, to verify their documents then resume work immediately, he realized they were more than eight persons.
Upon arrival at the headquarters, they were not allowed to go into the office. They stayed outside the gate until an officer came and picked all their documents and left. They waited until he came back and told them to go, stating that they will reach out to them and tell them when they are supposed to resume after a week.
“A week passed, I didn’t hear anything. The phone number of the officer who came to pick up our documents was not going through. The contact person’s number was also not going through. There was a middle man but his number was also not going through and went back to meet my friend and told him what was happening but he started telling me stories up and down.” he said with an angry tone.
Weeks turned into months and months turned into years, nothing was heard about the job offer nor the pastor who promised and took the payment for the job offer.
Job scams have become a growing problem in Nigeria, with 25% of people reporting they’ve been scammed and 45% finding it difficult to avoid them or fully identify a job scam offer. Research online has shown that in 2023, there’s been a 118% rise in job scams. Scammers often lure innocent individuals with juicy and promising job offers and then demand for an upfront fee or trick them into paying a fee before ghosting the victim.
In some cases like that of Paul it’s not just a faceless scammer or a stranger, it came through a friend who was innocently lured by a deceitful “pastor” to scam innocent individuals who only wanted to get a job to earn and make a better living in a country where the economic status is already inflicting.
Scammers exploit the economic crisis and high unemployment rates by promising lucrative opportunities with reputable companies. This includes fake job postings, phishing emails, and fraudulent job advertisements, many of which go unreported in the country. There is a lack of proper structures in place to trace and address these cases, and feelings of shame often prevent victims from speaking out.
Additionally, some of these scams involve fake interviews designed to lure victims into situations where they could be kidnapped for ransom demands from their families.
Benjamin Abah based in Abuja, had just finished his National youth Service Corp in 2018, when a friend who was his classmate in high school told him about a job recruitment taking place in his mother’s office.
After affirming his interest in the job offer, the friend in question informed his mum about Benjamin’s interest in the job offer.
“I quickly notified my dad about it and he questioned me several times if I trusted my friend or his mother, it got to the extent my dad had to speak with her directly.” Benjamin stated.
This particular job offer was at a Federal Medical center at Taraba State. After his dad spoke with the friend’s mum, an agreement reached between Benjamin’s dad and the friend’s mum to send a sum of N700, 000.00 for the job, which was paid in full.
“I was requested to submit my credentials, which I sent via mail. I was called a couple of times for virtual interviews which I attended, but no date was fixed for the physical interview and medicals.” He added.
Fast forward to when the money was paid, Benjamin and his dad started struggling get a feedback from his friend and his mum for close to a month. Not until this fateful day his dad tried to call the mother on the 4th week, hoping for positive news but ended up with news of a supposed upcoming screening exercise which was yet to be scheduled. She also urged them to remain patient.
Two months later, Mr. Abah received a call, it was a request for more money. They were requesting a total sum of N150, 000.00 to settle the head of department, the very department Benjamin was promised to be recruited to (Admin department)
“My dad was not happy about that but only agreed to pay cause he had already paid N700,000 initially.” Benjamin said.
After paying the money, their Patience grew thinner and started demanding for answers which led to a threat to refund them their money. Weeks turned into months, a total of four months, Mr. Abah and his son didn’t receive any update from them.
“We called to get an update then they broke the news to us, the person in charge of recruitment died, and they fabricated a list with my name on it, also a picture of a file with my name and position written on it. Due to the sad news of the man’s death, we decided to chill for a while and called back after a couple of weeks demanding answers or update on the situation.” He further explained
Several months passed and all they’ve been receiving are response like “were on it” and “be patient.” Seven months passed and there was no update. This pushed for a refund request by Benjamin’s dad of the total sum N850, 000. This was followed with a series of promises to get the money back.
A year and three months passed with constant call and messages but there was no single refund made. A threat to report the issue to the police had to be made before they received the first batch of refund which was a total sum of N500, 000.
“They said the rest of the money was collected by the late Head of department and they were in communication with the Late Head of department’s widow and she promised to make the refund.” He said.
That was all that they kept telling Benjamin and his father. Till this very moment the complete refund has not been made.
Recruitment fraud in Nigeria has evolved into a multi-million Naira industry with thousands falling victim to the schemes, leading to financial losses and mental distress. These stories and more are sadly the realities some people are currently facing, while others have had their own fair share of such devastating experience and moved on, some have sadly taken their own life due to the high level of heartbreak.
Beyond the emotional and financial losses, job scams are recognized by the Nigerian law as a criminal offence. Under section 45 of the Labour Act 2004, it is unlawful for anyone to obtain money or induce another person into employment through fraud, falsehood, or misrepresentation. Also, the Advance Fee Fraud and other Related Offences Act of 2006 criminalizes collecting money under fake pretense, a category that covers fake recruitment and job scams.
Despite these laws, fake job offers and recruitments are still on the rise. Many victims are afraid or ashamed which leads to them rarely reporting these crimes, which allows the perpetrators to operate freely.
The House of Representatives recently introduced the Employment Racketeering Bill, which proposes up to 20 years imprisonment or heavy fines for anyone who demands or receives money in exchange for jobs. The bill also targets public officials and private agents who profit from selling employment slots.
Until then, experts advise that every job seeker verify vacancies through official company channels, avoid paying any fee for employment, and report suspicious offers to law enforcement or anticorruption agencies like Independent Corruption Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) or the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).