An advertisement for hotel staff, targeting Capetonians, has been dismissed as scam by a London hotel.
|||Cape Town - An advertisement for hotel staff, targeting Capetonians who were interested in positions and who could translate Afrikaans to English, has been dismissed as scam by a London hotel.
Numerous online forums have reported the scam, which has offered jobs at the One Aldwych Hotel in London since last year in other countries.
A new advert has been posted on classified websites Gumtree and OLX.
The hotel has issued a warning on its website about the scam.
Belhar resident Rabia Khan, 20, said she had seen the advertisement on Gumtree. She had been corresponding with the scammers by e-mail and was offered a job on Friday.
Khan had applied for a position as a receptionist.
She said the ad had been looking specifically for Cape Town residents who wanted jobs at the hotel as cleaners, cashiers, guest relations assistants, receptionists, or translating Afrikaans to English.
It was offering salaries of up to R30 000 a month.
“Everything seemed legit,” Khan said.
“All the names of the people listed on the job offer form were right. The only thing that was strange was that they have not asked to speak to me. Surely if you want someone to be your receptionist, you would want to know how they speak?”
Khan then called the number provided on the form, but she was suspicious of the person who answered, pretending to be Abida Chaudhry, the hotel’s human resources head.
When Khan called the hotel and was put through to the real Abida Chaudhry, she was told it was a scam as the hotel had no vacancies. But the hotel said there was nothing she could do about it.
She believed it could be a human trafficking scam and was worried young people would fall for it.
The hotel said: “It has come to our attention that false job offers are being made to individuals in the name of One Aldwych Hotel. This scam targets individuals who have registered with job search websites.
“Please know that we pride ourselves on our professional recruitment process, which includes interviews and appropriate professional verifications. We do not make job offers or ask you to disclose personal information or send any money.”
The hotel said anyone with questions about the legitimacy of adverts or job offers should call its human resources department. The number, if using a cellphone, is +44 (0)20 7300 1078; for landlines: 0044 20 7300 1078; e-mail hr@onealdwych.com.
xolani.koyana@inl.co.za
Cape Times