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Unemployed Abby Hlungwane of Molapo, Soweto, thought his troubles were over when a colleague from a previous employment told him he had secured a deal with Murray & Roberts - an engineering and construction company - as a job recruiting agent.

His new job was to recruit and find other unemployed people for jobs in mining. But it turned out the two men were themselves unemployed and wanted by the police for other crimes.

"One of the men told me I needed to deposit the money using the Shoprite money transfer system.

"He later called me and said he had the job for me at one of the mines in Rustenburg and said more people were needed," said Hlungwane.

Hlungwane then contacted his friends in Free State and Limpopo and told them about the "job opportunities".

He said he recruited more than 20 people for this agent. They all deposited R750 each to get jobs.

Fano Tshabangu, of Vrede, Free State, said he fell for the scam because he acted out of desperation.

"When I spoke to him over the phone, he was professional and understanding. He wanted R1,500 but told me R750 will be needed before I can get the job. The balance I was to give him after I was employed," said Tshabangu.

Another victim was Dennis Ngobeni, of Tzaneen, Limpopo, who was convinced when told he would start work on July 17.

"I asked my sister to help me with R750 because that was the deposit he needed before I could get the job. My sister called this guy and asked him why he needed money, and Joseph said it was for us to secure jobs," said Ngobeni.

But when their time to start work and the day being postponed, everyone became suspicious.

"When I finally met him, he told me he could not find me the job as promised and would refund us our money," Hlungwane said.

When Hlungwane went to open a case in Mogwase, police referred him to Sophiatown police station nearer to where he had deposited the money. He was then referred to the Small Claims Court.

Murray & Roberts has distanced itself from the scam .

Company spokesman Ed Jardim said although they were not aware of the "poser", the company had not contracted agents to hire staff.

Comments

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Wed May 22 14:29:34 SAST 2013 ::

Jul 31, 2012

Memme

No job wants money upfront - People must stop being so ignorant.
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Jul 31, 2012

PipiYaTau

Desperation is the root of being kcufed in the S. Got to admit though, we all went through this. Faki mali uzobona!!
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Jul 31, 2012

mathopeed

@Murray & Roberts has distanced itself from the scam .
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Ee vele, what wr you expecting them to say. Our PEOPLE ignorant is in their HEART and there is nothing we can do about it. From Tzaneen, yeer, thats far.
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Jul 31, 2012

Nastradamas

ja ne ! desperate measures.
But why pay for the Job when you should be paid instead ?

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Jul 31, 2012

t-naslerethe

they paid the money upfront out of disperation ,if u never job hunting u will blame them and its hard outside,
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Jul 31, 2012

chantymore

SA wake up
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Jul 31, 2012

Mrazane

Actually its very common in mining towns for people to pay for jobs because they pay and acutually get the job so its easy for such con artists to get money out of people under the pretext of a job at a mine. The problem started with the corrupt mining officials who recruit or have an influence in recruitment, many mine labourers paid for their jobs and R750 is nothing these guys pay R3000 - R5000 for a job and they say the way they tell you the amount required is they tell you to come back at 3 then you know its R3000 if they say come back again at 13h30 then you must make a furhter payment of R1 500 so if you dont know the code you will go until you get tired.
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Jul 31, 2012

tpaz

NYDA, please flight adverts on TV and radio stations, Press country wide, to inform the youth and job seekers that - NO money can be paid to get a job. Please.
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Jul 31, 2012

NQUTHU

If a job needs money before you're hired, tell them you'll work first and they can deduct from your first pay
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Jul 31, 2012

kgakwi

t-naslerethe
they paid the money upfront out of disperation ,if u never job hunting u will blame them and its hard outside,
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@t-naslerethe

Yes I agree with U. If U never experience of being a qualified candidate and sitting home without being called for interviews, Yes, U will do whatever it takes to get the job. Go se bereke go bohloko and gwa stressa.
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