The Overseas Labor Center (Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs) has recently issued a warning about fraudulent activities involving the impersonation of the Center and the illegal collection of money from job seekers intending to work in Australia.

According to the Overseas Labor Center, there have been instances of individuals misusing social media platforms to impersonate the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs and the Center. They have created fake Fanpages with names such as โ€œOverseas Employment Consulting Center โ€“ Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairsโ€ and โ€œEmployment Consulting XKLฤ โ€“ Asian,โ€ among others, and have been posting job advertisements for positions in Australia on TikTok, falsely claiming to represent the Ministry and the Center.

These fraudulent individuals have also been misusing documents bearing the signature of Mr. Dao Ngoc Dung, the Minister of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, along with images of the Ministryโ€™s leadership engaging with foreign partners. They aim to establish trust and entice job seekers to join their purported program for working in Australia.

Impersonation of a document bearing the signature of the Minister of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs. Source: Overseas Labor Center.

The scammers have also pretended to be officers of the Overseas Labor Center and demanded that job seekers pay an amount ranging from 40 to 50 million VND through bank accounts or by setting up their own international payment accounts (Visa cards). After the victims make the payment to the Visa card, the scammers provide a link for them to click, which is used to steal their account information and transfer the money to another account.

The Overseas Labor Center has clarified that the aforementioned Fanpages are not their official electronic information pages or those of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs. These fraudulent activities are a form of impersonation and illegal money collection from job seekers.

At present, the Overseas Labor Center is in the negotiation phase with Australia and has not yet started the labor export process. Once approved by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, the labor export information will be publicly and fully announced on the following websites: molisa.gov.vn; dolab.gov.vn; and colab.gov.vn.

The Center advises that if anyone has fallen victim to these scams and made illegal payments, they should report the incident to the police and inform the Center for coordination and verification.

Under the Pacific Australia Labor Mobility (PALM) program, the Australian Government will allow up to 1,000 Vietnamese workers in the agricultural sector. Workers can choose between short-term jobs lasting 6-9 months or long-term positions ranging from 1 to 4 years.

The criteria for Vietnamese workers to participate in this program include being 21 years of age or older, possessing a minimum IELTS score of 4.0 or equivalent, meeting health requirements, having relevant occupational knowledge, skills, or work experience, and being selected by Australian employers.

The job positions offered to Vietnamese workers only require low-skilled to semi-skilled labor in the agricultural sector, including horticulture, meat processing, seafood, and forestry.

Further details will be announced during the recruitment process. The Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, in collaboration with the Australian Government, will jointly select the participating Vietnamese service companies.