Hospital con jobs
"Virtual hospitals” is the latest scam set up to lure unsuspecting expatriates with job offers with high salaries, accommodation and other perks. The catch is that prospective employees have to pay thousands of ringgit to pay for their Malaysian visas.
The fake Dutamas Hospital offered salaries of more than US$9,000 (RM27,000) per month for executive jobs, including perks such as holidays and accommodation to lure unsuspecting victims.
A similar scam for "Hartamas Medical Center" also surfaced recently, which mirrors the "Dutamas Hospital" scam.
A scam
If they take the bait, they would be asked to pay thousands of ringgit for visa and contract fees.
The "Dutamas Hospital" website which was created earlier this month had detailed information including an address, contact numbers and a list of doctors.
Information lifted from other hospitals
But checks by The Star newspaper showed that the information listed on the website was partially lifted from the Columbia Asia Hospital Setapak’s website. Names of doctors and employees from customer care, marketing and human resource department from Columbia Asia Hospital was used in the fake website.
Columbia Asia Hospital Setapak’s general manager Tom Lim said that they had nothing to do with the fake hospital.
“We are not aware of this operation,” he said, adding that he would lodge reports with the police and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.
Hospital does not exist
Calls to the numbers listed went unanswered and the address of the “hospital” does not exist.
The “Dutamas Hopital” website’s URL is registered in Florida in the United States to “James Baker Enterprise”.
The website has since been taken down but it is now on the www.fraudwatchers.org alerts.
Not the only fake hospital
The fake hospital scam has been catching on, as another fake hospital has surfaced.
“Hartamas Medical Center” mirrors the website of Damai Service Hospital (DSH) to hire foreigners by offering high paying jobs with perks.
The website, which is still running, lists the address of DSH which is about 5km away from the fake Dutams Hospital.
DSH officials were shocked when a doctor turned up claiming that he had been offered a job some weeks ago via email.
Chief operating officer Andy Soo denied having any connection to the scam.
Soo said that DSH has lodged a police report as well as a Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) report.
Have you ever been victim of a scam? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comment section below.
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