Hundreds rushing for bogus Turkey job opportunity ALFEASL says don’t fall prey to fake job scams and lose money

By Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana   

Referring to the recent incident of hundreds of people rushing to Colombo for a bogus foreign employment opportunity in Turkey, Association of Licensed Foreign Employment Agencies Sri Lanka (ALFEASL) warned the public not to fall prey to such scams in the future.  Addressing a special press briefing President ALFEASL Mohamed Faroos Marikkar said what happened on January 25th was a malicious act by someone who schemed to ruin the business opportunity of a legitimate foreign employment agent.   

He said the foreign employment opportunity in Turkey has been secured by a local licensed agent through his personal contact from a private company in Turkey and not something which was awarded either by the Embassy of Turkey in Colombo or granted by Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau.   

Proprietor of New Asian Travels who had worked hard for about a year to receive this opportunity had duly informed the SLFEB and had sought its permission before organising three interviews at the Booker Hall in Maradana on January 4, 5 and 19 to select the prospective applicants.   

They had planned to hold the fourth interview at J. R. Jayewardene Centre in Colombo on January 25th for a specific small group of applicants before a bogus message had been circulated on WhatsApp and Facebook by an unknown party just two days before saying the interview was to select people for a free job opportunity in Turkey.   
Therefore, the place had been flooded with over 2,000 persons coming from every corner of the country and creating a major scene disrupting the actual interviewees and the organisers. The police and the officials of the SLFEB had to be summoned to control the situation, he said.   

The organisers were however confused as to why this large crowd had come to the Jayewardene Centre instead of going to the Booker Hall as the bogus message stated the name of the venue as the Booker Hall in Maradana and not the J. R. Jayewardene Centre.   

The organiser of the event N. P. T. Jabbar said they suspect that the whole act had been orchestrated by an industry rival, out of jealousy, as they were charging very nominal amounts such as Rs.350, 000 to send people for hotel and driving jobs in Turkey.   

He said the Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara and the SLFEB officials were very helpful in tackling this difficult situation, as the Turkish representative who was present that day was utterly disappointed and almost cancelled the job opportunity.   

“We request the public to be watchful of these fake social media messages and also request the government to intervene in finding the perpetrators, as these acts will lose golden opportunities to the country to earn foreign exchange in these crucial times,” he said.