Hello ISR, I don’t know if this is a scam or the real deal. Days ago I received an email from a school in the UAE. The message, with attached teaching contract, informed me I had been approved for a teaching position. The email states: “There’s no need for an interview because your qualifications, as posted on a recruitment website, all check out.“
Accompanying the contract is a request for me to contact a specific UAE-based travel agent to start the Visa process. I did, and received a list of fees that must be paid so they can proceed with my relocating. I called the HR department (from the school’s website) and was told that this is the new procedure. They promised to refund all fees paid and said they’ve previously wasted a lot of money on processing work Visas, only to have the person not arrive. I have never before taken a position without an interview. What’s up with this? Do I believe their promises?
ISR Note: We searched the actual name of the school on Google and utilized their ‘Contact Us’ form in an effort to verify they are sending out Confirmation of Employment letters based solely on a candidate’s online resume. They have not responded to our request.
We are unable to know: Is this a legitimate school or nothing more than a website designed to extract money from unuspecting candidates? As such, we have withheld the school name. We have, however, posted the following correspondence received by the candidate, along with the country of location. If you are receiving such correspondences, proceed with caution!
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eMails from school to Candidate:
Name: (Candidate's name withheld) Xyz School - U.A.E Jun 3, 2018 Re: School Employment Contract
Dear ——
I am directed to inform you that the Board of Governors of the school have accepted and offered you an opportunity to work at Xyz School.
This is an Affirmation that your experience and qualifications were found successful and satisfactory to secure you the position. You require no telephone interview or further face-to-face interview.
Please find attached your Employment contract soft copy for your perusal and acceptance. Upon review and acceptance of this Contract Agreement Package, sign on the last page and send us the scanned copy of the Acceptance (last) Page.
As a new staff, you shall attend an orientation training Program for 7 days on arrival for work sign-on.
The orientation training program will avail you an opportunty to read and acquint [sic] with the school’s Mission Statement and Values, the staff handbook and your job description.
For the acquisition of your UAE Work/Residence Permit Papers to enable you to live and work in U.A.E., send the signed Copy of the Acceptance page to the Travel Agency by email. Also update us with the process between you and the Travel Agency in case of advice where necessary.
Ensure you provide them all required documents and fees promptly for the fastest process of securing the work permit papers.
Any Expenses you make in the process of registering your documents shall be refunded back to you immediately you [sic] submit your expenses report to us via email.
Be informed that once the process is completed your hard copies will be delivered to you through your postal address. Meanwhile, should you require more information, please feel free to contact us immediately.
Congratulations once more on your successful emergence!
Best Regards,
HR MANAGER
Mon, Jun 4
Dear —–
Please note that it remains our Official Policy that all Employees will incur the expenses for their Residence/Work Permits processing, as a proof of their seriousness and commitment to join our working team. The Company had to come up with this policy now, because, in the past, we have processed the Papers of Employees, who failed to turn up for work proper.
Also remember that any expense you make for the processing of your UAE Residence/Work Permit Papers shall be refunded back to you immediately you [sic] submit your expenses report/receipt to us via Email.
Meanwhile, I remind you that adequate arrangements has been made by us for your flight tickets, reimbursements and relocation allowances/benefits as soon as you complete the Processing of your Papers through the Travel Agency.
Be guided accordingly, and do the needful!
Thanks
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ISR Discussion Boards 
Do the needful!
This is a phrase I only encountered in India and so I would think that this would most definately be a scam.
I am currently working in Qatar and have enjoyed s very safe 7 years here but have seen a rise in scams which all come from Sri Lankan or Indian individuals. Avoid!
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While it might sound exotic and the UAE has a lot to offer, buyer be ware. You will have little to fall back on should you go ahead. I suspect as others have said, they are either, a scam, desperate, not an international school, or any combination of the above. Keep money in your pocket. All the best.
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I am in Bahrain not in UEA but it seems to be a very strange practice. No interview? And they want tou to pat monet for visa in advance? It looks like a scam. If not it means that no one wants to work there so the school is not worth of your attention.
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Wouldn’t touch that school with a barge pole. Sounds like they’re either desperate for staff or just simply unprofessional; no interview? Sketchy I’d say.
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Thank you for the information!
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I got the same thing from Turkey
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And yet I bet this works. Cast a wide net into a sea of desperate/idealistic/new teachers and you’ll get your staff. I would guess they bought a data base or email list from someone inside the international hiring community. I mean, it’s Dubai/Abu Dhabi! How cool is that! I bet they also pay about 50k a year to put the sparkle in the bait’s eyes. Too bad this is equivalent to earning 50k and living in NYC or SF. By March many will have broken contract and the process will repeat. How many young teachers are swimming in debt and unable to find a decent paying teaching job back in the US? Fish in a barrel.
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It reads like a scam. If not a scam, they definitely do NOT value their students. How can they bring someone on board whom they’ve not met face-to-face to teach their students?
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This is a scam do not send money. I have been teaching in UAE for 3 yrs.
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The bright people from Dubai must really think we Westerners are donkey’s? Who fall for their ducking and diving and corrupt methods. At least a fox is cunning and crafty, cant say the same about them. I wouldnt put my foot in Dubai if you gave me a free airticket. There are far better places to teach round the world than Dubai. Stay away from them, you will disappear without a trace – literally. Iran is safer. I kid you not.
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Dear ‘Lucky Job Seeker’
I received a similar contract which looked quite professional, I might add. Promises like a brand new car, fuel allowance, amazing furniture allowance, luxury accommodation, and of course a salary too good to be true! Like you, not having an interview made me suspicious. We also Googled the school, which looked amazingly real, with everything a school website showcases. Subtle inclusions of word choice in the contract and email made me weary… and an employer does not command an employee to complete and return the contract!
We did further research only to find that this was a scam. I subsequently emailed the head of the school which was being used fraudulently, but never received a reply.
This encounter made me wonder how safe the information on our CVs and other documents is that we willingly forward to schools and agencies?
My advice, if it’s too good to be true, be cautious.
Also Been Conned
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Please note that this is a scam. A friend of mine also received the very same. So what are the signs that points to a scam?
1. No decent school in the Middle East will request that you pay for your own visa process.
2. It is not unusual to receive a job offer but there will be at least a phone call or skype interview.
3. If you did not apply to that specific school yourself, why would you receive a job offer. You agent would also have made contact with you by now.
4. The basic salary of an international teacher is between 9500 and 18000 dirhams. Any offer above that would mean that you would be a coordinator, a deputy or vice principal or in some sort of leadership position. Heads would earn anything from 25000 to 40000.
5. Please take care. That school also has no website.
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It’s a scam I work in the UAE and a number of real good schools names have been used (mine included) it’s been reported. No good school here would take you without an interview you may not have a Skype interview anymore as it’s blocked.
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Sounds like a scam – almost identical to one I experienced a couple of years ago, although that ‘school’ was in Malaysia. Don’t send any money!
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It’s a scam. First, no reputable school would hire without an interview. Second, a truly reputable school will pay your flights, visas, shipping, and other fees upfront. This sounds like an attempt to get your personal credit card information and other information. Do not go near this offer.
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Good grief. It is a SCAM. Don’t be Forrest Gump and just move on with this one. What legitimate school would ever hire someone without a Skype or in person interview!
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Having read the letter and considered the entire process vis a vis my experience, here are my observations:
1) You MUST contact the school again and question their process, their rationale for such a bizarre hiring process and their provenance as an international school, if they really exist!
Nigerian scam letters we see all the time on the internet.
2) Curiously they refer you to ¨their travel agency¨ who ask you to pay fees in advance and spuriously promise you a refund once you arrive at your new ¨job¨……this is so like phishing scams, again from
Nigeria.
3) As a few commentators have already said, this isn’t normal or reliable procedures for hiring. What school, in their right mind, would hire a complete unknown based on what they read on another website!
I’d put a gigantic X through this so-called job offer…..if it quacks like a duck,smells like a duck and walks like a duck…it is almost certainly a duck (scam)………..
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Some legitimate schools will ask you to pay some of the costs for obtaining medical checks and visas on your end up front – meaning you might have to pay an attestation agent to shuttle your documents, pay the doctor for an x-ray or blood test, etc. NO Legitimate school is going to have you send them money to pay their costs on their end, like applying for a work permit – if they did charge you, they would deduct from your salary and tell you what those costs were up front. They would never ask you to send them money. Most would reimburse at least some of your up front costs or reimburse for legitimate expenses over a certain cap amount, provided you have documentation. NO LEGITIMATE school is going to hire you without an interview of any kind PERIOD. I had a couple emails like this – when I looked up and researched the school and found its real legitimate website, with HR contacts emails different than anyone listed in the fake emails and cloned website, I contacted them directly and realized they were being copied by crooks trying to sting people out of money. There is a group doing this for UAE schools and they copy a lot of them. They don’t interview you because their primary objective is to steal your money and they don’t want to waste time and man power on fake interviews. Even the worst schools conduct some kind of interview process. The fake one that tried to hire and dupe me without so much as an interview sent an offer letter with a deal that was hard to believe -even threw in use of a free car and pay that was ridiculously lavish – believe me, I wish it were real but a simple check of the schools legitimate site easily debunks the ruse. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is, and it is certainly bait to take advantage of your desperation to quickly nab a good job in an effort to steal whatever is left of your money. Unfortunately I actually sent them some copies of my passport etc., but when they asked for money I knew it was total crap. If you go to the legitimate websites of some of these schools, some have posted warnings in their employment section stating that it has come to their attention that groups are copying them, and highlighting who the accurate contacts for their schools are. Pay attention to details. You should be able to confirm the identities of these schools and legitimacy of a communication by contacting the school directly via online research or recruiter websites that might list the school and its legitimate contacts. If you email the school and they don’t respond to you chances are your offer is not really from the school it claims to be.
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I would be sceptical. 1) All schools I have worked at arrange the visas. Organisations all over the Gulf have a PRO to nudge things along at the ministries. You would need all sorts of paperwork from the school to get the visa. It is quite a process. Fair enough if you are asked to get vaccinations or documents attested. 2) What kind of place is it if people don’t show up?
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I received such a letter also. I looked up the school online and saw a different name for HR. I figured it was a scam. I contacted the school to inform them of this but I never heard anything from them. No reputable schook skips the interview process. Scam Alert!!
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I recommend you don’t proceed further. I unfortunately had the poor experience of Dipont China not reimbursing my costs and expenses.
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My daughter teaches in Dubai. Her school posts this on their employment page:
Important Notice for Candidates: Be Aware of Potential Recruiting Scams
Please note that some teachers seeking overseas employment have been approached by various individuals or groups running scams and requesting money.
These individuals/groups claim to be a reputable school (or assume the identity of an existing, reputable school) and ask teachers and/or administrators seeking overseas employment to send them money to assist in the payment of a work visa, interview or application fees, plane tickets, or other recruitment related costs. Please know that no legitimate school will ask any teacher or administrator to pay them to obtain a job and/or work visa. If you have been asked by an international school to send money to cover such costs, you are probably the target of an elaborate scam. Be aware that these fraudulent activities seem to becoming more frequent. Do not send money or pass on banking information to any school seeking professionals to come work with them.
Update! —- is currently the target for one of these scams. This website is —— only site for job applications. We also receive applications which have been submitted to (parent company’s) website. Any other site which claims to advertise jobs at —- must be considered to be a fake. The police have been informed.
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This is prob a scam. I have worked in UAE for 3 years as a teacher. You do not pay any fees the school does as required by law and most have an HR department that takes care of bookings etc. I do not k ow of any schools that would hire without a skype or phone interview.
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This is a complete scam. Look at the wording…. ?? This is not the procedure for entering and working in the UAE. Beware !!
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Don’t touch that job with a 10 foot pole! UAE is well known for human rights violations and abuse of foreign workers. Even if the school finds you satisfactory, what about you having a chance to find out about the school? So many red flags on this one! Unless I have firsthand knowledge about a school I would never front any of my own money for any reason. Plus in the UAE the employer is ALWAYS right in the eyes of UAE law. Seriously– run away quickly.
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You must be a wonderful educator who any wise upright school would want to employ? However as people have mentioned buyer beware. It speaks to the crazy state of affairs in the international education industry as you may find yourself in Russia.
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Total scam. I think this school has a branch in Nigeria.. and they have billions of dollars in a bank account just waiting to share with you if only you’ll send them what they need
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This is a scam. We have reported a few of these a few years ago. They use school names that exist, but give an address that is changed slightly. The moment ‘a travel agent’ needs to be contacted, or ANY fees paid in advance, it is a scam.
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I’d re-word their own email and send it back to them:
Please note that it remains myolicy that the school will incur the expenses for the¡ Residence/Work Permits processing, as a proof of their seriousness and commitment my employment,
There’s no way I would do this unless (1) I really fancied the job and (2) the cost was minimal.
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Not only do you go through a Visa process by their government (which is a separate entity from the employer and confirms you are eligible to live and work there) you must go through a medical to confirm you are not carrying any diseases. Having worked in the UAE and middle east generally, this is a scam. But why should you believe us? Pay the money – then after they get your money they can continue scamming other unsuspecting inexperienced teachers.
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This is… so obviously a scam. If and when you pay the “visa fees” you’ll never hear from them again.
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No school in Dubai get visas before a teacher arrives. western teachers come on a tourist visa which they get when they arrive. the school only starts the visa process once they know the teacher is staying.
don’t pay anything!
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The letter writers poor English skills should be a “red alert” to stay well away. This is an obvious scam.
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Don’r look a gift horse in the mouth.
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Of course it is a scam.
All quality accredited schools bear the costs of visas, flights, etc., knowing full well that they’ve hired quality people, who have been interviewed and had references checked.
One of the posters said it best; the worrying thing is that you actually believe this!
Wake up and smell the adage: If it’s too true to believe…, well, you finish the rest of that expression!
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Words fail me…you went through all those years of university and teacher training to behave like this?
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No reputable school would operate in this way. If it is even a school. No.
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Of course this is a scam! I received a similar offer last year from a university in UAE. As a matter of courtesy, I reported it to the HR Office at that university, on whose website there was already a warning. BTW: working in UAE may be a blast (I don’t know), but getting there is no easy task considering how many documents will need attesting and direct mail transcripts, etc. TES has some info https://www.tes.com/jobs/careers-advice/teaching-overseas/what-qualifications-do-you-need-teach-uae
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I think the worrying thing is that you are actually believing this. Of course it is a scam.
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I wouldn’t trust this. To legally teach in the UAE, your documents have to go through an arduous and expensive attestation process. It can take months, and you can’t get a work permit without this. No point in contacting a travel agent until you have been through this process.
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NOOOoOOooOo! Even if it was legit would you really want to work for a school thay doesnt bother talking to their potential employees?
Its not legit.
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How do you know?
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Sounds fishy to me…I’d stay away.
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