Job Discussion Forums

[Al-Mansoor]

Looking for help from all you vastly experienced EFL people ...

I applied to quite a few places where they advertised a position for a post at ARAMCO, including their official website. Can someone comment on the following email I received from an 'Expatriate Recruitment Representative' supposedly from Aramco Overseas Company Ltd. I'm a bit sceptical due to the other posts I've read on this forum.

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Dear ********,

I hereby confirm your interview date and session time.

Please confirm receipt of this email ASAP.

You should arrive at the following location on Thursday 11ST *****ber, 2010 at *****am

Aramco Overseas Company U.K Ltd
26th Floor, Centre Point
103 New Oxford Street
London
WC1A 1DD
United Kingdom

Our office is located right outside the Tottenham Court Road tube station. If you are going to use the tube please take the Northern or the Central line and get off at the Tottenham Court Road station. As you exit the tube station there are signs that say �To the Centre Point�. Please follow these signs. Our building is located on the left as you exit the tube station. Please sign in at the reception, take the lift to the 26th floor and ring the doorbell. I will inform the security in the main entrance that we will be expecting you but if you have any problems entering the building please call me at the phone number mentioned in my signature below.

IMPORTANT: Please photocopy the necessary documents and bring with you a package containing the following items:

� Passport, showing your photograph and details (if you have already scanned a color copy of your passport and sent it to us, you do not need to bring another copy)
� Relevant certificates
� A copy of a recent pay slip

You can find more information about the current vacancies open and about the lifestyle and benefits we offer on our website: http://www.jobsataramco.eu/.

Travel & Expenses:
In order to be eligible for reimbursement of your travel expenses, please arrange for them yourself and send us your travel plans with the estimated costs and we will advise and confirm with you to make the reservations.

PLEASE NOTE: For those that it should apply to, if you are traveling by plane you will only be reimbursed for one return economy fare. Should it be necessary to stay overnight expenses for a hotel will only be covered for one night up to 165 pounds. It is also recommended that candidates take public transport when possible.

IMPORTANT: Please ensure you will have all your receipts & your full bank details: Bank account number, Bank name and full address; BIC/Swift Code, Sort Code and IBAN Code with you to facilitate the reimbursement process. Furthermore, it would be appreciated if you could complete and return the attached Bank details form beforehand to further facilitate and expedite travel reimbursement.

We look forward to meeting you in London.

Kind regards,

***** B****** | Expatriate Recruitment Representative

Aramco Overseas Company Ltd
26th Floor, Centre Point, 103 New Oxford Street, London, WC1A 1DD
T: +44 (0)20 7632 49**
F: +
W: www.jobsataramco.eu

Now there is a new & easier way to browse, register or apply for jobs with Saudi Aramco.
Please visit our NEW job application portal at www.jobsataramco.eu

NOTE: This email and any attachments are proprietary and/or confidential and intended only for the use of the addressee(s). If not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that the perusal, copying or dissemination of this email is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please delete all copies of this message and its attachments immediately and notify the sender.
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[Sirens of Cyprus]

They forgot to tell you that your reimbursement will be arranged by a solicitor in Nigeria, who has just discovered that your long-lost brother, who made a fortune in the diamond mines, died last year in a car crash and that said solicitor will be happy to help you claim your inheritance for a small retainer.

[007]

You can check the genuinity of the email by contacting Emma, who is the Expatriate Recruitment Representative of Aramco in London.
http://www.aramcooverseas.com/en/work-for-us/meet-our-people/

Also, you may request to do your interview using a video/telephone conference facility.

[Bebsi]

Gee, it's hard to know which one is fake! Are they both? Certainly, both give rise to minor feelings of apprehension...well, actually, big flashing red neon signs and deafening clanging of bells.

"Meet Bob, who is our European Real-time Representative for Organizational Recruitment (ERROR) and who will assist you with all aspects of the recruitment process, especially the Advance-payments-easy-reimbursement programme (APERP), in coordination with the Senior Coordinator Aramco Management (SCAM) based in the Cayman Islands. Bob, a native of Cote D'Ivoire, graduated from the Freetown University of Creativity & Knowledge, with a degree in recruitment economics, and worked in various west African companies as a finance expert in the field of recruitment. He will guide you through the difficult process, and many who have passed through his hands say he is the reason they'll be in Saudi until they reach 80. Indeed, most of them would love to meet Bob again!"

[veiledsentiments]

Even if this was legitimate, there is no way in the world that I would provide my banking information to anyone... ever. If you decide to apply, tell them that you will accept a bank draft or Western Union for your reimbursement... or cash at the interview.

If you never hear from them again about your London meeting, you will know that this is a scam.

Do update us...

VS

[scot47]

S C A M Latest product of the Ibadan and Port Harcourt College for 419-ing

[trapezius]

www.jobsataramco.eu seems like a legit site. It is too good to be fake, you can even see the vacancies on it and they are typical Aramco vacancies. It is even linked on the site that 007 gave us. And that one is def. legit, so the one in the OP is legit as well.

The ad, however, is fake. Mainly due to them asking for your bank account info, and even requesting you to send it to them before the interview (so they can clean you out and then you won't have to travel to London!).

I do wonder, though, they are not asking for money, so how will they take money from someone's account by knowing the bank account info? If you know someone's bank account info, you can deposit money into their account but not withdraw it. You *can* withdraw it, but then you need to have a fake ID and also change your appearance to look like the person who owns the account, and these con artists don't do all that.

So, knowing account numbers, how can they steal money?

[Bebsi]

[veiledsentiments]

[Stephen Jones]

Seems legit to me. How can Aramco send the money to your bank account if it doesn't have the details.

[Al-Mansoor]

Thanks for the replies everyone, much appreciated.

I actually live in London and am about 20 minutes away from the stated address. I'm not too bothered about being reimbursed but am concerned that the person who sent me the emails has the exact same name as someone else working for Citigroup in Canary Wharf (London) who also works in recruitment.

A bit confused but am planning to 'play along' until I'm convinced. The interview date is over a month away and I even called the telephone number on the website http://www.aramcooverseas.com/en/about-us/where-we-operate/london-uk/

Apparently Emma was away from her desk so I said I'd call back another time.

Has anyone been scammed with something like this before?

[veiledsentiments]

[Stephen Jones]

You've lived in the Middle East Cleopatra. Aramco decides how it reimburses you and you don't get a look in. It has decided it is going to reimburse you by transfer (which is perfectly intelligent) as opposed to sending you a cheque by post.

[veiledsentiments]

First off, I'm not Cleo and I don't believe we are talking about ARAMCO reimbursing them, but some obscure recruiter. I don't trust a one of them any further than I could throw them... which is why I avoided ever talking to one of them.

VS

[Stephen Jones]

The recruiter appears to be the official recruiter for Aramco. Centre Point, where he has his office, is one of the most expensive office buildings in London.

There are probably regulations regarding paying expenses.