The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration warned Filipino jobseekers from an online recruitment scheme targeting applicants for employment aboard cruise ships by asking money for placement and processing fees.
In a statement, the POEA said the scam begins with an e-mail from the recruiter claiming to represent a major company such as Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, P&O Cruises, etc.
“The recruiter guarantees the target person a job with a cruise ship, in exchange for paying the necessary fees, but when the victim pays, the scammer—and the supposed job—simply disappear,” the POEA said.
The agency advised jobseekers that when looking for employment on a cruise ship, they should never pay any fee, including recruitment and placement fees.
“Legitimate manning agencies and cruise lines are not allowed to charge administrative fees from seafarers,” the POEA said.
The agency said that cruise ship job scams are easy to detect because their jobs are advertised on free websites and social media since scammers would not pay advertisement for jobs that do not exist and through e-mails.
Most of the correspondence is in poor English and very informal as most scammers operate from countries such as Malaysia, Ghana, Nigeria, etc., the agency warned.
It added that the job being offered is usually very generous in terms of salaries and with short working hours, long paid holidays, and no thorough interviews with candidates.