Pinoys warned vs spurious job offers from Portugal

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine embassy in Lisbon yesterday warned the public against making online transactions with spurious companies and individuals offering employment and issuances of entry or working visas for companies based in Portugal.

The embassy recently noted the continuing cases of Filipinos who have been victimized or have received e-mails from alleged companies or law firms, which offer jobs or promise to process permits for employment with Portuguese companies, in exchange for fees to be paid by money transfer.

In some cases, unscrupulous individuals have misrepresented a number of real and reputable companies in Portugal by using the information on their websites and replacing it with false contact information. Others have created fake company or law firm websites and offer to process employment documents.

The scammers usually require payments for Entry Clearance Certificates, International Overseas Employment Certificates (IOEC) and Affidavits of Guarantee Fund, which are not required by Portuguese authorities. 

The IOEC is not the same as the Overseas Employment Certificate that is legitimately issued by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

The embassy advised the public “to exercise due diligence and caution in dealing with unverified parties to avoid being victimized by these scams.”

“Please be aware that business companies with international dealings rarely hire employees solely on the basis of curriculum vitae but will always require a personal interview. Prospective employees should be wary of job offers from individuals who ask for monetary fees for testing or processing of documents prior to employment because this is a sure sign of a scam,” the embassy warned.

It added that legitimate employment offers have a corresponding job order issued by the Portuguese government, as the hiring company must justify the need to hire a foreign national instead of a local.  

The job order, the embassy added, would usually specify the number of workers to be hired, the type of work and a full job description, plus complete employer information.