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Job seekers in Africa easy prey for online scammers
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AFP Fact Check debunked dozens of false job claims in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa at the peak of the crisis.
(Pexels/(Pexels/Rodrigo Santos))
From careers in banking to roles in globe-spanning agencies, social media in Africa is awash with lucrative job offers.
But investigators with AFP Fact Check have found that many of these ads are bogus -- they are scams designed to extract cash or steal personal data.
Fresh out of college in Kenya -– a country with more than 1.6 million young unemployed -– Job Mwangi believed he had been shortlisted for field assistant at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), a position advertised on LinkedIn.
After passing two online tests, he was asked to pay 2,000 Kenyan shillings (about $17) in "facilitation fees" in order to secure an interview.
"Everything about the job posting seemed legit," Mwangi told AFP Fact Check in an interview.
"I was asked to pay 1,000 Kenyan shillings ($8.5) for medical and radiology tests... but the tests didn't happen since I was told that they would be done at the UN offices on interview day."
A shuttle bus that was supposed to transfer Mwangi and more than 30 other job-seekers to the UN office never showed up.
