Lately there has been a spate in this type of scam and a lot of International students are being scammed. A lot of them come to Melbourne and are desperate for jobs so they turn to Gumtree
Here is another story by another International student on this issue.
"Recently I was scammed $300 every time I started work. I worked for twelve shifts and they would not pay me.
I applied for a job on Gumtree.com. It was a sales assistant job in a motor vehicle shop in Frankston which promised me $1000 per shift. I handed in my resume and provided my passport and bank details all on Gumtree. I was asked for my birthdate and my photograph. At the time I was living in Frankston"
" A few weeks later I noticed that about $1200 was taken from my account from the motor vehicle shop. At the time I did not know that I had rights. I tried to talk to my employer about it but he said that if I said anything I would be deported back to India."
" Another nine shifts later about $3000 was taken from my account by the same guys. I was kicked out of my shared house due to the fact that I could not pay the rent. I was also worried about my tuition fees seeing as my parents said that they could no longer support me due to troubled times in India".
"In the end I had to go back home as I could not find another part time job and fighting for my money back was just too hard. I had nowhere to stay".
Lessons learnt
* Do not use gumtree to apply for jobs no matter how desperate you are
* Use legitimate sites such as Careerone or the RMIT site
* If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.
* Do not give out your bank details unless got the job. And never give out your passport details. Or your birthdate.
* You have rights about payment etc. And if you are scammed you should report it to the police and Scamwatch so that others are warned. And check Scamwatch yourself every now and then
Here is another story by another International student on this issue.
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| Image courtesy of Google Images |
"Recently I was scammed $300 every time I started work. I worked for twelve shifts and they would not pay me.
I applied for a job on Gumtree.com. It was a sales assistant job in a motor vehicle shop in Frankston which promised me $1000 per shift. I handed in my resume and provided my passport and bank details all on Gumtree. I was asked for my birthdate and my photograph. At the time I was living in Frankston"
" A few weeks later I noticed that about $1200 was taken from my account from the motor vehicle shop. At the time I did not know that I had rights. I tried to talk to my employer about it but he said that if I said anything I would be deported back to India."
" Another nine shifts later about $3000 was taken from my account by the same guys. I was kicked out of my shared house due to the fact that I could not pay the rent. I was also worried about my tuition fees seeing as my parents said that they could no longer support me due to troubled times in India".
"In the end I had to go back home as I could not find another part time job and fighting for my money back was just too hard. I had nowhere to stay".
Lessons learnt
* Do not use gumtree to apply for jobs no matter how desperate you are
* Use legitimate sites such as Careerone or the RMIT site
* If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.
* Do not give out your bank details unless got the job. And never give out your passport details. Or your birthdate.
* You have rights about payment etc. And if you are scammed you should report it to the police and Scamwatch so that others are warned. And check Scamwatch yourself every now and then
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