The United Arab Emirates offers amazing employment opportunities for ex-pats. Combined with the high quality of life, security and tax-free salaries, the pull and charm that the UAE offers are hard to resist. Unfortunately, in their eagerness to avail such an opportunity, ex-pats can often succumb to fraudulent employment offers and end up losing money. Due diligence is key when it comes to vetting an employment offer and ensuring its validity. This step cannot be stressed more.

In this article, we will take you through some of the most common types of employment frauds that can happen to you and also discuss the steps that you may take in order to prevent them.

• Employment offer:

  For all companies that are in the mainland of UAE (does not apply to freezone companies) are required to provide you with a Ministry of Human Resources & Emiratization (MOHRE) issued employment offer. If your prospective employer falls within this category, then ensure that you obtain such an offer letter in order to protect your rights.

• Complete online verification:

  Ensure to complete a thorough online verification of the  company offering you employment opportunity. Make sure that the said company has an online presence, website and check if you have been contacted through the same domain name for the company and not a generic domain such as gmail.com or yahoo.com. Reach out to the Human resources department for the said company and directly verify the employment offer, whether genuine or not. In case of any doubt, you may request further information such as the trade license copy of the company.

• Do not pay for job offers:

  Pursuant to the UAE laws, it is illegal for an employer to obtain any consideration from a prospective employee towards visa expenses or as recruitment charges. If you are asked to pay any such amounts, then you can be sure that you are dealing with a fraudulent offer. In such cases, you should refuse to make any payments. Often people are asked to transfer such so-called ‘recruitment fees’ to a personal bank account of the fraudulent recruiters. This is again another red flag. Refrain from making any such payments, as this is illegal. 

• Disproportionate offers:

  When approached with disproportionate offers providing you with very high pay and at the same time not requiring any previous experience- be extra cautious. In all certainty, this could be a scam; by providing you with an offer that becomes hard to resist, the fraudster intends to extract payments in return. Please keep in mind that UAE companies are often very demanding in terms of your previous level of experience and also your educational qualification, all of this shows your adaptability and expertise to benefit the job.

When faced with such instances, first of all, you should not make any payment transfers. Further, you may contact the department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization(MOHRE) in the UAE , seek assistance from your country’s consulate in the UAE to verify such job offer. You can also approach the UAE employment law lawyers for their legal consultation and guidance.