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Articles: Cops probe job scams

Posted by admin on Tuesday, July 20, 2004 - 01:49 AM

POLICE are investigating several cases of dubious job offers which have seen numerous unemployed Namibians, desperate for work, parted from the little cash they have.
The latest investigations are in addition to a questionable job offer reported by The Namibian a few weeks ago which promised jobs in Norway, Alaska, Iceland and Greenland for a N$1 100 "processing fee". Warrant Officer James Matengu confirmed to The Namibian that the Police were "hot on the heels" of a group of foreigners with a Namibian bank account who operated in Windhoek. "They claim that the company is based in South Africa and the United States. These people have taken a lot of money from Namibians," Matengu said. Police almost arrested members of one of the syndicates recently after being tipped off by some of the victims of the scams. However, the group appeared to get wind that something was up and quickly vacated the building out of which they operated. Matengu was reluctant to divulge more details on the job syndicates while Police investigations were continuing. The Namibian reported on an agency, Unique Jobs, which first recruited some Namibians to advertise their scheme and to help transfer the funds to its South African bank account. At the time, Norwegian Ambassador in Pretoria Jon Bech said they had discovered a similar operation in South Africa and had reported the case to the police there. He said there were no such jobs in Norway and claimed people were being duped. Klaus Andresen, Norwegian Honorary Consul General in Namibia, said he had become concerned when people started streaming into his office with applications for visas. "It is a scam. They must stop immediately; otherwise we will push for their prosecution. People come to us and get very disappointed when they discover that it is a scam," Andresen charged. Some of the job agencies promise people high-paying jobs in fish factories, on ships and in other factories. However, after depositing their money, Namibians have all to often found that such jobs do not exist and that in some cases even the companies were fake.

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