What is employment scam?
Employment scams are scams that target people looking for jobs, including migrant domestic workers (MDWs).
Usually, the scam involves a fake job that is posted on social media or fake job websites. The fake job usually has a high salary and very little job requirements. The scam usually tries to get the victim to provide their personal information or money.
Examples of Common Employment Scams
- “Fake Job Offers”: these scams offer ‘fake jobs’ that do not exist. Usually the scammer will try to convince the victim that the job is with a good company.
- “Advance Fee Scams”: this type of scam usually follows from a fake job offer scam. The scammer will tell the victim to pay an ‘advance fee’ or some type of ‘administrative fee’ before the job offer can be given.
- “Work from Home Scam”: this type of scam involves the scammer offering the victim a flexible ‘work from home’ job that has a very high salary and very little job requirements (e.g. only need to work for 2 hours a day).
- “Overseas Job Scams”: the scammer will try to get a victim to sign up for a fake job overseas with the promise that the victim can get a visa or permanent residence in the overseas country. These scams are dangerous as the risk of being trafficked is very high.
In Malaysia, there is no crime for ‘scamming’, but other laws can be used to take action against a scammer:
Section 415 of the Penal Code makes ‘cheating’ a crime. Cheating means to deceive, fraudulently or dishonestly convince another person to give property to someone else or keep property that does not belong to the scammer. If someone is found guilty of cheating, they may be sent to prison for a maximum of 5 years or be made to pay a fine (or both).
Section 420 of the Penal Code also makes it a crime to cheat someone and make the victim give property to a third party or to destroy something that is valuable. If someone is found guilty of this crime, they may be sent to prison for a maximum of 10 years, get whipped or pay a fine.
What else can I do if I have been scammed?
While scamming is not a crime in Malaysia, it is also possible to bring a civil case for against the scammer.
If you enter into a scam employment contract, it may be possible to go to the court to cancel the contract. It is advisable that you get legal help from a legal advisor or NGO first to understand how strong your case is.
Additionally, if you enter into an agreement or contract with a scammer where you need to pay money to the scammer, you might be able to cancel the agreement under section 14 of the Contracts Act 1950. If the court cancels the agreement, the scammer must return the money to the victim. However, it is important to understand that most of the time, the scammers will disappear with the money, so it will be difficult to track and trace the scammer and bring them to court.
Helpful tips
- Call the police (999) if you are in immediate danger
- Consider submitting a police report
- Contact your bank or the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) at 997 if you think you have been scammed.
- Consider submitting a civil claim. You may be able to get compensation from the scammer by bringing a civil case, but it is highly advised that you seek legal help from a legal advisor or NGO first.
- Stop talking to the scammer once you realise that it is a scam.
