Exposing the biggest migration scam in the UAE

Many expats nurture the dream of migrating to Western countries for better prospects. I myself have seen several such advertisments that promise jobs and citizenship in countries like Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

So, when I got a call from a Filipino woman claiming a Dubai-based migration company duped her and a few friends, I knew there was a bigger story to be told.

In the coming days, I interviewed more victims and it did not take too long to figure out there was a huge migration scam involving hundreds of innocent victims — mostly middle class, semi-skilled workers — who were chasing the dream of migrating to a foreign country.

Almost all of them I spoke to, were lured to the ‘migration trap’ through enticing advertisements on Facebook. They had paid amounts between Dh6,000 and Dh15,000 for landing non-existent jobs in countries like Canada and Australia.

But that was just one side of the story. There were several companies that were raking in millions, sitting at their gleaming offices in Dubai’s bustling business districts, and selling false migration dreams to thousands of UAE expats. And I wanted to dig deeper into that murky business and that was indeed the biggest challenge.

Not everyone was willing to entertain a nosey journalist. When some doors slammed in front of me, I posed as an HR assistant desperately seeking a job abroad.

At least five companies promised me jobs ‘if I fulfill the conditions,’ and was asked to pay up for assessment interviews and wait.

In some cases, I discovered the same fraudsters were running more than one company under the same licence.

In another case, where the company was closed down by the Dubai Economic Department, the owner had opened at least two others similar businesses, but under new names.

I also tracked down a whistleblower who had exposed the malpractices of her company to more than 1,500 clients in an explosive email.

The story created a stir that we were inundated with calls and complaints of similar nature. The next day on July 6, I broke another story ‘New Canada migration scam rocks Abu Dhabi; victims sell land to pay up to Dh30,000.’ The owner of the company was at large and victims reached out to Khaleej Times in a desperate attempt to get their money back.

The story, which we published along with a video interview of the distressed victims, touched a chord with our readers and comments were flooding in.

It was one of the big impact stories I have done that even till date, I receive emails from expats seeking the credibility of various migration companies in the UAE. anjana@khaleejtimes.com