Fake job advertisements for MTN call centre agents are serving to con people out of money.
SA’s second cellphone operator has issued a warning to the public to be vigilant of conmen operating under the guise of being recruitment agents.
Last week, MTN said it had received an increasing number of reports that job-seekers were being hoodwinked by dodgy recruitment agencies looking to sign people up for MTN call centres. Victims, said MTN, had been cheated out of “vast amounts of money” through adverts promising jobs at MTN in various newspapers.
According to MTN, the conmen operate by luring applicants to offices in Johannesburg for “an assessment”. Reportedly, job hopefuls are asked to pay a “placement fee” of between R300 and R800 following a successful interview, and are subsequently left in the lurch.
MTN says it is “disturbed” by what it terms the flagrant abuse of its brand for the deception of job-seekers. “The MTN brand equity has been created through years of hard work and significant investments, and MTN will not hesitate to take action against anyone who fraudulently uses its name.”
MTN’s chief human resources officer, Themba Nyathi, says two criminal cases are in the hands of law enforcement agencies.
The crooked agencies are reportedly operating in the Johannesburg CBD and surrounding areas such as Kew, Braamfontein and Marshalltown.
Nyathi adds that MTN’s recruitment processes are handled by accredited and approved service providers. As a result, he urges job-seekers “to treat any other form of recruitment on behalf of MTN that doesn’t follow our normal processes with serious caution”.
MTN says its recruitment process includes the placing of adverts with one of its preferred suppliers, or on www.mtnjobs.co.za.
Nyathi says it is important to note that costs are at no stage of the process incurred by applicants. “After applicants are screened by MTN HR and line management, they receive an invite for a preliminary interview with an MTN panel, usually at an MTN building. If successful, they move onto the assessment phase, a second and, potentially final interview, and after the necessary verification checks are done, may receive an offer of employment.”
MTN says dubious advertisements or agencies can be reported to .