Overseas job swindles skyrocket

The number of people duped by illegal job brokers to work overseas and the damages incurred have both soared in the past eight months, according to the Department of Employment (DoE).

The sharp rise comes when the demand for Thai workers in the international labour markets has increased in the post-Covid-19 pandemic period, said Phairoj Chotikasatien, director-general of the DoE.

From October last year to early this month, at least 471 people were conned out of a total of 32.75 million baht they paid to illegal overseas job recruitment agencies for non-existent placement services, said Mr Phairoj.

These overseas job scams were found to involve a total of 142 fake job recruiters, he said.

Compared to the period from October 2021 to early July 2022, 217 victims were duped with damages estimated at 16.6 million baht.

South Korea, Australia, Japan, Canada and Sweden…