PPRuNe Forums - Warning: job offer scheme

Funny how Greece is often involved in these scams.

Be critical, and aware of their ways. If this is not the same guy as described below, he is copying it quite well:

(from www.loh.se)

FRAUD and SCAMS !

Many companies will try to take money from desparate pilots, with little or no services in return. They know how desparate some pilots may be, and what reward the pilots are expecting or hoping for, in the shape of a well paid job.

In the more common, but less severe cases, a fee is taken for a service that doesn't lead to anything, i.e. a posting on a board where there is little or no chance of the CV to be seen.

In other cases (which are not really scams but I would call it not being honest up front about the conditions), a lengthy CV is entered by the applicant, and only in the end you find that after spending a long time gathering and entering information, credit card information is asked for before you can proceed any further, even though it says in the beginning you can submit it for free.

The worst cases are where a job is promised, and you "just" need to pay for your type rating before you can get the job. I have seen many examples of this. First time I heard of it was like this:

A pilot with a Danish CPL license and 400 hours total had taken a Canadian float check, and thereby he had a Canadian CPL as well. In hope of a job he put an ad in Flight International. He was contacted and told he was wanted to fly a Canadian registered Hawker 800 out of Zurich, paid appartment, a nice tax free salary, free car and so on. He was supposed to fly for a rich Greek individual, but everything happended through a box address. The reason HE was chosen (this was in the beginning of the 90'es where jobs were quite scarce) was that he happenend to have a Canadian License ! (this was to clear the doubt as to why they had chosen HIM with only 400 hours for a Hawker 800 F/O position when there were plenty of rated and current pilots available). He was invited to a sim check in London, with hotels, limos and the works. Of course he passed the check on the 737. (all this to ensure him that it was a serious company, so he would be ready to be hooked). After he went back, he was told he was accepted and just had to pay for his type rating, together with his employment contract. I don't remember how much, but it was in the order of GBP 10.000 to 15.000. One of his friends, also a pilot, came across the Hawker by chance, and talked to the crew. They were completely puzzled, they didn't need any pilots, and never heard of the rich Greek individual. So he bit the bait, but got off the hook before they took his money. Happy end !

The example above was back in the beginning of the 90'ies. This one is from april 2002:

Flexjet Europe which I worked was closed down, while outsourcing. Tough luck for me and my collegues ! Several adds had been placed in Flight International by Flexjet, and one of the companies that responded was asking for a G-IV pilot. Pilots from Flexjet looking for a job had to take a better deal, so it was suited likewise by the scammer. This is what I received from my company (my comments in brackets [] ):

Just been contacted by a private company based in Rio de Janeiro [exotic, right ?] regarding 2 First Officer positions on a GIV. Type-rating preferred but not essential [meaning, come on suckers, take my bait !], they also prefer if you have an FAA licence, if not then a JAR licence is fine [= almost anything will do !].They prefer to have First Officers who are under 32 years old, but are flexible [= anyone will do !]. They pay for accommodation etc, and would consider pilots who had families [= pilots with or witout family, we will be equally happy to take your money ] etc. They employ on a 3 year contract and pay $6,200 per month (tax-free) [Ah, tax-free salary, especially for corporate pilots, really touch the emotional button hard. USD 6200 tax free for a GIV copilot ?]. They are a private company called Alpha Tankers Inc [= does not exist], and they operate as Alpha Aviation ltd.[= does not exist either] These are immediate vacancies [come on, suckers, we are ready to take your money NOW] so they want to move quickly [before they discover it is a scam]. I haven't been able to find out information on them from the Web etc[= does not exist], so I can't give you any other information regarding them.

Too good to be true, right ? It IS too good to be true ! Some of our collegues contacted them, and finally found that the company wanted something like a USD 7150 payment for the type rating. If you want to pay a pilot USD 6200 tax free a month and all the benefits, it doesn't make sense to ask him for about a months payment up front ??? To my knowledge, no-one took the bait ...

What is their ways ? Basically in all these scams, they

1) Want to make sure they include a large group of pilots (ie. "prefer FAA, but JAA is fine", "would consider pilots with families" etc)

2) Sweet talk you with tax free salary, paid accomodation, nice aircraft, rich owners etc

3) Make you feel special and lucky, why YOU were chosen (ie, you flew for Flexjet, you have a Canadian License or anything else particular about YOU)

4) Hide, i.e. behind a mail box or hotmail as well as mobile phones

5) Often start of with spending money in you (airfare, hotel, limo, sim etc), before asking for a down payment, type rating fee or whatever they call it. It must be like catching fish! "Funny" enough, they can't accept a bank guarantee, only a down payment bank transferral.

6) Usually it is a job to be filled ASAP, so you don't have the time to discover it is a scam.

BE WARNED, DON'T FALL FOR THESE SCAMS !

In my eyes, the only acceptable means of paying for an employer/employee match is this:

1. In a no-cure-no-pay contract, the employER (not employee) pays the job agency/hunter an agreed fee. Or the employer finds his pilots without a job agency

2. IF a recruitment company should insist on wanting money from a pilot to find him a job, let them find the job first, THEN ask for the money. If soneone found me the right job, I would gladly pay a reasonable fee, after I have the job. I will not pay anything nor submit any credit card infomation until I have the job and can see it is real and no scam.

3. On certain conditions, paying for a type rating is OK, considering the cost you are incuring on the company, but the only acceptable way is with a contract and a paycheck deduction, where the pilot after a certain agreed period goes up to full salary, or full salary all the way, and a fee to be paid by the pilot if leaving early. I agree that it is the company that has to pay for the type rating. But there are pilots who get a type rating "for free" by a company and then go to another company the day after, and that is not reasonable towards the first company. From the pilots viewpoint, it is important to consider in a deal like this whether the money for the type rating goes to the company directly, or to an independent training organisation like FlightSafety, Simuflite etc.

If you consider to buy a type rating, hoping to get any job afterwards, note that many companies will require hours on type, and not just a type rating. Your type rating will eventually expire, so only do it if you are desparate enough! In rare cases, like when simulator slots are hard to get (but you get one), it could be a good investment, though still a risky invenstment.