Nine Kerala people trapped in Indians cheating on Indians

(PTI) Dubai, Ta. July 21, 2019, Sunday

Nine people in Kerala are trapped in the UAE after accepting fake job offers through social media. AlN and the nine people trapped in Ajman were approached by an agent named Shafiq via WhatsApp and paid 70-70 thousand rupees to get a UAE visa. Fazil, a resident of Mallapuram in Kerala who was a victim of cheating, said he had received a job offer through WhatsApp.

According to the report, the WhatsApp message promised to land a job within the UAE within 15 days and it was fascinated by the fact that the message was being shared in Kerala and many people were interested. The agent promised Fazil to get a job in Al Ani's supermarket at a salary of 1,200 dirhams (Rs 22,496) a month and get free living.

Fazil got money for his visa by packing his mother's jewelry, while Mohammad Rafique, 30, a resident of Kozhikode, Kerala, borrowed Rs 70,000 from friends and relatives.

According to Mohammad Rafiq, the agent had set up a separate WhatsApp group of nine people who paid the money and said they would be taken to the UAE. Then on July 15, they landed in Abu Dhabi airport only to find out they had been cheated, and a local agent named Shamir at the airport divided them into two groups.

He sent four people to Ajman while the remaining five were sent to Al N and when a supermarket official was jailed for questioning about the job, he replied that he would find a new job.

The Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi has launched an intervention to help the Indians trapped there and send them back home. Rafiq said he and other Indians were currently living on the allowance provided by the embassy.

Just over a month ago, the Consulate General of India in Dubai issued a warning to people seeking jobs to beware of bogus advertisements calling the UAE from India. The embassy said those seeking jobs should not fall prey to fake proposals and contact the embassy in any suspicious case.