Disillusioned with labor export because of "ghost companies"Lesson 1: Receiving "bitter fruit"

Recently, many people in Hai Duong have lost money and fallen into debt because they fell into the trap of labor export fraud by brokers and "ghost companies".

Lose money

In August 2023, when he wanted to work abroad, Mr. Bui Van Thanh in Ninh Giang district was introduced by an acquaintance to meet Ms. Trinh Thi Hang, from Cam Giang town (Cam Giang). According to Mr. Thanh, Ms. Hang introduced herself as working at ANA International Trading and Study Abroad Company Limited, and was able to send Mr. Thanh to Korea to work as a welder in the shipbuilding industry under the E7 Visa program. Ms. Hang asked him to pay a deposit of nearly 24 million VND. Ms. Hang collected the money without a contract or working minutes, only a receipt handwritten and signed by her.

In the receipt provided by Mr. Thanh, Ms. Hang signed as the chief accountant and stated that Mr. Thanh paid money to "participate in the E7 program" with the condition that "while participating, if for any reason the employee cancels the payment, the money will not be returned". Mr. Thanh said that in early October, Ms. Hang continued to ask him to pay an additional 2,000 USD (nearly 50 million VND). After investigating and realizing that his ability and qualifications could not meet the conditions for working in Korea, Mr. Thanh requested to stop participating in the program and asked Ms. Hang to return the deposit he had paid. Ms. Hang did not agree.

"When I looked into it more closely, I found that the conditions for going to Korea under the E7 Visa were very high, such as having work experience, high technical skills, graduating from high school or college or higher... Meanwhile, I only graduated from high school and have never done welding before, so I wanted to get my money back but couldn't," Mr. Thanh added.

In his spare time, Mr. Nhu Van Hung in Thai Hoa commune (Binh Giang) reviews the documents related to his son Nhu Van Quoc's labor export fraud as a lesson in gullibility. Mr. Hung said that his circumstances were difficult and he saw that people in his village who went to work abroad all had good incomes and a comfortable life, so he also wanted his son to have a chance to change his life. "At first, I planned to send my son to Taiwan, but because I listened to the sweet enticements of Do Van Thin - who introduced himself as a representative of Minh Ngoc Trade Development Company Limited headquartered in Hoang Mai district (Hanoi), I decided to send my son to Korea. Over and over again, Mr. Thin came to work and persuaded my family to pay more than 150 million VND. The money was paid but my son still could not go. Only when I investigated further did I realize that I had been scammed," said Mr. Hung.

In addition to Mr. Hung's family, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Can's family in Hong Khe commune (Binh Giang) and many other people in Ha Tinh, Phu Tho, Nghe An provinces... were also scammed by Thin at the same time, taking nearly 1 billion VND.

Indebted

The company had few orders, so Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai in Tu Ky town lost her job. When she saw information on Facebook that she could go to Australia to work in agriculture, Ms. Hai immediately sent a private message to the person who posted the information. She immediately received a call from this person asking about her and guiding her through the procedures to go to Australia to work.

Believing that the opportunity to change her life in Australia was coming, Ms. Hai took all her savings and paid more than 50 million VND, including health check-up fees and documents for a person named Nguyen Van Dung, who introduced himself as a representative of Shaphia International Study Abroad Consulting and Trading Company Limited, headquartered in Hai Phong. She also borrowed an additional 100 million VND from relatives to pay to prevent escape... When she read the warning information from the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Hai Duong, she realized she had been scammed. "Because I was blind, I did not know that the two countries were only negotiating and had not yet implemented agricultural visas. Any individual or organization that receives money from workers to bring them to Australia with a 403 visa is invalid and shows signs of fraud and property appropriation. If I had known this information earlier, I would not have lost my money."

Until now, Ms. NTH in Dong Quang commune (Gia Loc) still has not forgotten the days of waiting in despair when she was cheated out of her deposit by Vietnam Ecological Company Limited (Vineco) in Dong Da district (Hanoi) to go abroad to work. Listening to an acquaintance's advice, Ms. H. and her husband went to Hanoi to find Vineco Company to complete the procedures to go abroad to work. After many delays for various reasons, 3 months later, the company representative called and told Ms. H. to prepare her luggage and go to Hanoi to complete the procedures to fly to Korea. "The company collected all our luggage and then put 10-15 people in a room and told them to wait until they were called to leave. More than a dozen people waited and slept in a dormitory near the company with anxiety and insecurity, but no one dared to leave. On the 10th day, Vineco Company informed the workers to go home with the reason that they could not fly due to procedures." After many years of waiting, writing dozens of lawsuits to authorities from the province to the central government, Vineco Company has also been investigated by Hanoi City Police for fraudulent appropriation of workers' property, but up to now, Ms. H. and many other workers have not yet received their money. The amount of money Ms. H. and her husband borrowed to pay Vineco Company is still more than 100 million VND.

In the process of investigating this issue, Hai Duong Newspaper reporters also recorded many cases of accusations that L&R Trading and Tourism Services Company Limited of Quang Yen Town (Quang Ninh) provided false information to profit from billions of dong from people who wanted to work abroad. The dream of working abroad has not yet come true, but many people are still holding large debts. Some families have had to sell their fields, gardens, and houses to pay off debts.