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As the Nigerian group is defrauding seamen and other mariners by sending fake job offers, so this Malaysian group is faking employment offers on cruise liners. On this page you find an example of a fake cruise liner job offer as well as a fake job offer that seems to have some connection to cruise liners. I also give some ideas on how to check if the offer you have received is real or not. Some targets / victims have sent me copies of other fake job offers on cruise ships that they have received. I do report on those also. |
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Please note; All links on this page open in a new window. If your "pop-up killer" is too efficient it can stop also new windows. When this happens, press "Ctrl" and click again on the link. In July 2006 an Indian AB received a job offer from Oasis Cruises in Malaysia (Port Dickson), 2.800 USD per month, on one of their cruise liners. A few days later he received an other message from a Malaysian (Kuala Lumpur) attorney office, stating salary 2.500 USD per month and asking for 600 USD processing fee for Malaysian work permit. This was bank transfer to a Malaysian bank. The lawyers request was signed by Mohammed Abus, Senior Partner of "Anaclet Chambers" in Kuala Lumpur, tel. ++ 617 355 1797. "Anaclet Chambers" is not registered with the Malaysian Bar Association and therefore not authorized to act as an advocate or solicitor. You are advised to take extra caution in dealing with this firm or any person (Mr Mohammed Abus) from that firm. You can check any other lawyer's office by contacting Malaysian Bar Association or you can do it from this old list. Mr Abus is also mentioned on the page Cruise Ship employment scam from before. The "Oasis Cruises" gave tel. no. ++ 601 229 64213 and 601 630 35304 (in Malaysia), address: 456 Jalan Gombak, Port Dickson. The message was signed by Datuk Seri Muhammed Rahimi, Senior Manager, Human Resources & Administration. The "company" have a website: www.oasiscruises.com. Due to coding errors only dark blue background can be seen in Explorer, while Firefox shows the pages OK. The server is owned by Telekom Malaysia Berhad and the email is on: oasiscruises.com The picture to the right is a copy of the job offer. On the website it's stated the company is doing around the world cruises, like for instance Australia to Southampton (UK). It's also said at least one of their cruise ships carries 245 passengers. There is a page with six photos of "cruise liners". Two of the ship's photos are duplicated, and one of these is both from abeam and from the starboard bow. So out of six pictures, there's a total of three ships only. The website lists the names of five ships: Wuma Viva, Oasis Princess, Viva, Conda, and Wuma. Only the name "Viva" can be found in ITU ( International Telecommunications Union ). Several ships with this name are listed but only two with EPIRB - both registered in Germany. When you zoom in on the ship pictures the flag looks very much Malaysian, it's definitely not German. EPIRB ( Electronic Position Indicating Radar Beacon ) is mandatory on every ocean-going / foreign going ship. A ship without this is used in domestic / coastal trade only. The one example above is not the only target - this offer is continuously sent to seafarers (cruise ship crew) who have their email address available on the internet. This cruise ship employment scam was still going strong in 2007. Mr Mohammed Abus at Anaclet Chambers in Kuala Lumpur still busy collecting money (?). Last fake job offer I know about was received in October 2007. I hope not too many people are sending him anything. In March 2008 I received a "funny" job offer - funny in the way it didn't offer any specific job positions at all. It wasn't even directly concerned with maritime employment except for a banner with a cruise liner at top. The banner serves as a link to www.cruiseinc.com, which I believe is a US cruise ticketing company. I quote the message: |
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QUOTE: FROM THE DIRECTOR GENERAL,There are no names mentioned in the job offer itself, but this ends with an "advertisement" for an immigration services company with the same address as this "global shipping company" and an animated ( moving ) Canadian flag. |
There are several reasons why I classify this as a scam: There's no direct connection between the top banner and the "company" making the offer - a company that cannot be found anywhere, the e-mail address is "jobs.global1@yahoo.ca", and then there's one sentence common to many fake offers. That sentence is: "Full access to some of the finest and social recreational facilities in Canada". Not even all Canadians have that access! At the very end there are several photos of people with very nice titles. The e-mail gives an impression these are the people that will take care of you. Their names are: Hon.Patmalar Ambikapathy, Ba.Kim Baker Sq, Hon.QC. M.Bartfeld, Hon.Paul Bingham, Ba.David T. Crocker, Ba.Sarah L. Fregon, Ba.Sharon Kermath, Ba.Alan Llewellyn Hands, Dr.Frank Jones, Dr.Ba Adams F Everyone of these are represented by a photo, I have reproduced only a small part of the last one (i.e. face only), that is Dr.Ba Adams F - the picture is to the right. Would you trust your future with this person ? When a shipowner or recruiting agent contacts you to offer a highly paid job you haven't applied for, be very cautious. Every personnel office is too busy to surf the Internet searching for seamen CVs and then trying to contact people with job offers. Except when you have some very special skill or knowledge (like a top consultant). One of the first days of May 2008 I received from an Indian marine engineer a new scam message going around. The offer was from K-Shipping & Cruises Company in Ghana (!) with a website: k-shippingcruise.biz.ly - ".ly" is a Libyan extension. They say they "own a fleet of passenger ships, vessels, and cargo ships". They use an expression I have seen before in these scam letters. The fake offer was signed by Adowa Antwi, which is a Ghanaian name. It's Ashanti, which is one of the tribes and languages in Ghana. "Adowa" means this is a female born on a Monday, but one can never be sure of who really sent an e-mail message. The name can very well be fake as well, although there are many Nigerians with Ghanaian citizenship. They were born in Ghana. On their webpage ( Employment 2008 ) there are several pictures of different ships, including a couple of dredgers. The text accompanying the pictures, however, only talks about passenger ships ( cruise liners ). The Indian Engineer was offered a job onboard MS Alaska Arrow, which doesn't exist according to ITU (see below). The text accompanying the pictures lists only passenger ships ( medium to small size ) by names: Caedmon, Cenred, Cenwulf, Fastcat-Ryde, Fastcat-Shantlin, Florence, Metalina, Alaska Arrow, Dodi, and Silas. The three first ones can be found in ITU register - one of each name - under UK Flag but no EPIRB. MS Florence (36 vessels) - one under German Flag with EPIRB. MS Dodi and MS Silas (12 and 10 vessels respectively - only one ( MS Dodi ) under Irish Flag with EPIRB. The rest of the ships doesn't exist. Very unlikely anyone of these would be owned and used by an unknown Ghanaian company. There is also on the "employment" page a list of salaries. The salaries are the same regardless of ship's size and some funny job positions are included in the list. In the offer-letter they ask for an advance fee, don't pay - even if you think it's small money only. |
 Dr. Ba Adams F |
At the beginning of October 2008 the job offer quoted below was sent to an American Captain, who kindly forwarded it to me. I'll give my comments after the quoted letter/e-mail. QUOTE The board will like to congratulate you on your recent application to work with Blue Cruising Company, and we are pleased to inform you of the confirmation of your appointment. The entire employment procedure will take place between 9 days, after which you are expected to resume on deck to begin your contract as our Captain. The monthly renumeration for the position is a sum of $9,700.00, along with other employee benefits, overtime and tips. (underlined by Donpedro) You may sign a minimum contract length of 6 months ($58,200.00 Contract) and a maximum of 3 years ($209,520.00 Contract) with the company, with ideal compensation and benefits at the end of your contract. Your job description will require a lot of self discipline and the ability to be able to communicate politely and efficiently with clients and customers. You will be given a one week break at the end of each cruise, and your basic salary will be paid to you in United States Dollars, either directly into your bank account or in cash. You have also been assigned to sail with the M.V. Dodi Princess III, which basic statistics is listed below: Operator: Blue Cruises Company Year Built / Last Refurbished: 1970 / 1998 Length / Tonnage: 471 / 11,500 Number of Cabins / Passengers: 275 / 550 Officers / Crew: Norwegian / British / Ghanaian / International Operating Area: Western African Coasts, Atlantic Islands and the English Coast There are some procedures to be followed by all new applicants to secure your position, prior to the signing of your contract: 1. All new applicants are to submit a recent passport photograph copy (scanned) for identification processing. 2. You are also requested to forward a copy of your C.V and previous working experience, and references if any 3. A job processing and form fee of 110 Ghana cedi is to be paid along with the submission of a scanned data page of your international passport, which will be used for the acquisition of your cable visa, for entry into Ghana. Upon acceptance of the above prerequisites, we shall forward you a letter of acceptance to confirm your employment with the cruise passenger ship, and your contract of employment. The job processing fee is to be paid to the company, but will be forwarded to the consultant agency in London, at the end of recruiting of crew members. There are no fees to be paid to the company account for the purpose of employment. At the end of your application process, your air tickets and cable visa along with your itinerary will be sent to you via federal express, after which you will be expected to resume work on the ship, after a briefing from your captain. We shall wait to hear from you in regards to the 3 above prerequisites for employment with Blue Cruises Company. You can find more information by visiting our website, www.blueseacruising.we.bs. We would also like to congratulate you on your prospective employment with our company, and also the opportunity to sail with the ocean liner M.V Dodi Princess III. Regards, Felicia Hammond, UNQUOTE Comments: I visited the "company" website and it reminds me of the Canadian one mentioned above. Pictures of several cruise ships but none that could be "Dodi Princess". The one above is using a ship name "Dodi", which is almost same. The website itself is hosted on a Bahamas free server, the ".bs" at end of Internet address is short for Bahamas. Why would a Ghanaian company have a website in Bahamas when there's no connection at all to the Caribbean. Further not a single picture has been taken in Ghana although it's said to be cruising in West Africa. Then all cabins are double cabins so it cannot be a very luxurious ship but still requires an American captain. The ship is operating from West Africa to "along English" coast. I checked in ITU register, Dodi Princess cannot be found, which means there wouldn't be even a VHF radio station onboard. On the website they are talking about "Dodi Princess" being a "catamaran with ample seating for everyone" and doing some 90 minute long short trips. And on their "Services" page it seems to me a page from P & O cruises has been copied, as only P& O is mentioned on the page. Then the salary is somewhat too high and something I never even heard about before: captain receives overtime and tips !! A manager at a 5 * (star) hotel doesn't get overtime and tips, does he? Tips are for bartenders, waiters /waitresses, and cabin stewards / stewardesses etc, i.e personnel serving the passengers directly. The "employer" says no placement fee but they want the American captain to send a "processing fee" in Ghanaian currency from USA to England. I think you agree with me, there's no doubt this one is as fake as the others. |
Very end of Oct. 2008 a Philippine accountant received another Canadian cruise ship job offer, a copy below: QUOTE;
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UNQUOTE The above job offer is copied as received, including grammar and spelling errors and with all the colourful text. Two things to observe: In a second confirmation e-mail the Canadian Immigration e-mail address was given as deptcanadianimmigration@yahoo.ca . No Government office anywhere would ever use a free e-mail service. The errors and lay-out ("the look") also gives it away as fake offer. Many fake offers I have seen, have been made in a much more professional way. On May 16, 2009 I received a new version of this myself, only about half of the positions listed above were included, but those with even higher salaries. The e-mail addresses were different: crewshipinternational@yahoo.com and cruiseshipline@yahoo.com. In the application form the office address was suddenly in Vancouver, Canada. The "company" uses several different versions of it's company name: TOURIST CRUISE SHIPPING LINE, and Cruise Shipping International These "companies" under various names are listed as fake on Fraudwatchers, Canadian tourist, canadian tourist cruise, and Canadian Tourist Cruise. There is a website: www.cruise-information-center.com , but on May 17 the bandwidth was exceeded and the website was not accessible. According to Who Is look-up that website was registered on September 27 in 2004 by Alvin Robinson ( California ). The website itself is hosted on a Texan ( USA ) server in Dallas. This Alvin Robinson owns a total of 155 domain names (!). The application for is from a "company" named Cruise Ship Centers International Inc, with same address as the other ones ( in Vancouver ). On the application form is reproduced the same signature as in the offer above from "Canadian Tourist Cruise ..." and it is "signed" by DR Frank Harrison. ( always a doctor involved in these !) It seems the one above is coming from Mrs Kerry Grand while the latest one is from Mrs Kerry Drand ! The application form itself indicates this company is a member of a group called "Seamax International Inc.". This consists of 65 websites, listed on Zibb.com. All fake ! When you are asked to contact a Canadian immigration agent, remember there is only one official Canadian immigration website: Very end of November 2008 I received from somebody a query about Captain Shipping Line, said to be a Ghanaian (!) company based in Takoradi. They have a "visa handling office" in London, UK. Again the employer doesn't ask for any fee, Oh no ! - it's the visa processing that would cost USD 300. A company by that name cannot be found. The representative's name was given as Kevin Miller. What gives this away as a fake offer is the telephone number: 447031933633. It's not only a UK mobile number with re-direct but it was used already early in 2007 in connection with fake job offers in UK for Philippine students and graduates, against a heavy "visa processing fee". At that time POEA ( Philippine Overseas Employment Agency ) warned about the scam and now it spreads especially in the Philippines. The offer is signed either by Kevin Miller or Kelvin Miller. First week of December 2008 - these guys have been really busy now ! - I received an offer, copy is shown below: QUOTE Subject: 2008|09 Employment .Send Your CV To This Email:avlconsult@rocketmail.com? From: Mr.Adam Armstrong ( avlconsult@rocketmail.com ) Sent: Saturday, November 29, 2008 9:52:53 PM To: (my e-mail deleted) Attn:, There are vacancies for the positions you specified on your resume (Mate/Deckhand/Bartender/Steward), and your C.V has been reviewed and recommended to the British owned cruiser C.S. NATRA CRUISE COMPANY, owned by NATRA Cruises Company London and managed by Natra Cruises GH Ltd. Your resume was posted to us for perusal by the British Referral Service. Please inform us if you will be able to take up the contract to work on board the Dodi Princess III as we also have very attractive remuneration for staff and contractors. No sailing experience is required, as the company will bear the responsibility of taking all new applicants on a 3 weeks crash program on marine safety and survivor techniques. The Vessel has just anchored at the Tema Habour, and your application has been granted as a prospective staff member. The contract period is for a minimum duration of 6 months, and a maximum of 3 years at an instance. The remuneration is also very attractive. For more information on the summer cruise calendar for 2008/09, you may visit the company website http:// www.natracruise.we.bs .You may also find a list of destinations and track the current location of the vessel. We shall wait to hear from you within 7 working days of the receipt of this message, and you are also to attach a copy of resume for confirmation and updates. Best Regards, Mr. Adam Armstrong Crew / Job Recruitment & Placement officer AVL Consults, London United Kingdom +44 704 570 2037 UNQUOTE Comments: British Referral Service doesn't exist, but the name has been used in scam letters already before. Dodi Princess is again searching for crew and officers who doesn't need "sailing experience". Contract period 6 months to 3 years - same as in offers above. The "company website" is hosted on the same server as the Ghanaian one above. When you try to get there you get an error note: "The requested webpage cannot be found". The exactly same offer, has been posted - on the same date - on a Bulgarian jobs forum. Natra Cruise Company doesn't exist either. But Tema Harbour does exist - in Ghana.! And the telephone number is again 44 70... , which is that - by now famous - UK mobile number with redirect. Would you need any more to see it's a fake one? And then on December 10 I received a copy of a new version to this same one from an Irish seafarer. The beginning of the text is exactly same until the sentence: "The Vessel has just ...". One work job position has been added: Make-Up Artists. The ship Dodi Princess III and the owners are still the same. The rest has been replaced with what follows below: QUOTE: |
The Vessel will be making a few trans-Atlantic crossings annually but has her major route from Ghana to the United Kingdom and other ports and marinas across Europe. We shall wait to hear from you within 7 working days of the receipt of this message, and you are also to attach a copy of resume for verifications. Best Regards, Mr. Chris Martins Job Recruitment & Placement officer Sky Limit Consults, London United Kingdom +44 704 570 2037 skylimitconsults@ymail.com UNQUOTE Just a few days before Christmas 2008 I received some copies from a carpenter in Australia. The Job offer was from Blue Sea Cruising Company in Ghana. The offer letter is a very close copy of the letter from Natra Cruise Company above. In this "new" offer the ship name is Blue Sea, which has also "just anchored at Tema Habour" ( Ghana ) and with same spelling errors as in the earlier version. This time it was signed by: Best Regards, Mr. Williams Bruce Crew / Job Recruitment & Placement officer IVO Consults, London United Kingdom +44 704 570 4037 ivory.consults@yahoo.co.uk Note telephone number is almost same, only "2" in the last 4 digits has been changed to a "4". The "new" consultants name is IVO Consultants with e-mail: ivory.consult@yahoo.co.uk . The "Contract" gives shipowner's e-mail as: natracruiselines@live.co.uk . Of course anyone can get a e-mail address in UK. When you give your language preference in Yahoo as British English the program automatically takes you to yahoo.co.uk. The said carpenter was offered a job as a Steward with a total income of USD 4.770 per month plus a fixed overtime 25 $ per hour (!?). Working hours would be 8 hours per day - Monday to Friday - on a cruise ship. Are the passengers supposed to take care of themselves during Saturday and Sunday ? This was a one year contract. The Managing Director is named as Mr Minster Williams. Official travel agents in Ghana said to be Pacific Travel & Tours, Manager Mr Chris Evans, e-mail pacific.travel@live.com. This was all sent by a secretary named Mary Owoade. This Cruise Line also have a website: www.natracruiseghana.we.bs . The website is on the same server as used above for Blue Cruising Company (see above). Only difference: this website is better done and could really fool somebody. On the website the "Cruise Company" states clearly: The company doesn't require any FEES for purpose of employment. Oh no ! It's the travel agent who requires payment, a processing and visa fee, in this case 537 USD. So again new "consultants", same telephone number, and new e-mail address. These are really busy people. One wonders how much they would be able to earn with honest work - still working the same hours ? The first new fake job offer in 2009 didn't take very long. I received the one below beginning of February 2009. It's from a "Canadian agent" and really targets recruiting agents. The same copy I received was also sent to one Philippine agent and two Romanian agents. It could easily, slightly changed be sent directly to individiaul job seekers as well. |
QUOTE: CREW TO CRUISE VESSEL WORKERS REQUIRED URGENTLY? From: Tess Travels (tess.travels02@yahoo.fr ) Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2009 6:42:36 PM To: [e-mail address deleted] Dear Sir, This is to inform you that we are the leading Recruitment and Visa consultants,We are using this opportunity to inform you that our company is in need of the following Creew / Hotel and Factory workers in Canada / USA with the refference of our power of attorney,we therefore require you to supply us the Indonesian crew tocruise vessel for any rank and positions as follow : 1-Cabin Steward $,1700 usd p/m 2-Asst,Cabin Steward $,1400 usd p/m 3- Laundry Supervisor $,1400 usd p/m 4- Lenen Keeper $,1200 usd p/m 5- Poll Attendent $, 1100 usd p/m 6- Gelly Cleaner $, 1100 usd p/m 7- Utility Cleaner $, 1100 usd p/m 8- Bar Boy $,1200 usd p/m 9- Bar Utility $,1200 usd p/m 10- Buffet Steward $.1200 usd p/m 11-Hotel Workers(Waiters,Waitress,Room Cleaners,Security Guards,Receptionists,Light Drivers and Heavy Drivers. 12-Factory Workers,Construction Labourers,Welders and Technicians with attractive salaries. All this vacancy is available now, our service charge is very interesting for getting the visa for the candidate while Tickets,accomodation, transport and hospitality is in company charge. If your company is interesting in our vacancies, you should please reply us immediately so that we can give you our company details and the way we operate. YOUR COMMISSION WILL BE HIGHLY PROTECTED. Best Regards, Captain Moris George Buter Reply To: tesstravel7@ayhoo.fr UNQUOTE |
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June 02, 2009 |
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since Aug. 08, 2006 according to www.digits.com/ |
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