Scammers on TikTok are Preying on Desperate Job Seekers, Leaving Many with Financial Ruin.
A Kenyan woman, Lilian, was swindled out of one year's savings after responding to a job ad on TikTok. The recruitment agency, WorldPath House of Travel, claimed to have secured her a role in Amsterdam, but it turned out to be a scam.
WorldPath is not registered with Kenya's National Employment Authority, and its supposed partnership with an agency in the Netherlands was fabricated. The general manager of the alleged partner, Undutchables, confirmed that WorldPath's recruitment effort was indeed a "scam."
This is not an isolated incident. Several other agencies have been identified as using TikTok to promote fake jobs, with some even going so far as to produce falsified documents and set up fake interviews.
The Kenyan government has been trying to address the issue of unemployment through labor export, but many job seekers are turning to TikTok to find work abroad. The platform is popular in Kenya, with over 62% of the population using it, according to the Reuters Institute.
However, many agencies on TikTok are not registered with the Kenyan government and are engaging in illegal recruitment practices. In May, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection released a list of more than 30 blacklisted agencies, but some have continued to proliferate on the platform.
Halisi Affiliates, an unregistered recruiter, used TikTok to advertise jobs across Europe and North America. A job seeker, Nimo, paid the agency 150,000 Kenyan shillings for a restaurant job in Romania, but was left waiting for months without any update.
Another job seeker, Sylvia Wairimu Maina, was promised an assistant nursing role in Rotterdam, Netherlands, by Halisi's British partner, Global Employment Consultant. However, she never received a refund after being left with "no money, no savings."
Halisi and its partner denied any wrongdoing, but their new company, Fly With Halisi, has appeared on TikTok and Facebook. The agency claimed to have filed a police report and refunded several clients, but did not answer follow-up questions about its offices' new business with the same name.
TikTok did not respond to multiple requests for comment, including a list of the accounts tracked by the Guardian. Neither WorldPath nor Global Employment Consultant responded to questions.
The incident highlights the vulnerability of job seekers in Kenya who are desperate to find work abroad. Scammers on TikTok are preying on their desperation, leaving many with financial ruin.
A Kenyan woman, Lilian, was swindled out of one year's savings after responding to a job ad on TikTok. The recruitment agency, WorldPath House of Travel, claimed to have secured her a role in Amsterdam, but it turned out to be a scam.
WorldPath is not registered with Kenya's National Employment Authority, and its supposed partnership with an agency in the Netherlands was fabricated. The general manager of the alleged partner, Undutchables, confirmed that WorldPath's recruitment effort was indeed a "scam."
This is not an isolated incident. Several other agencies have been identified as using TikTok to promote fake jobs, with some even going so far as to produce falsified documents and set up fake interviews.
The Kenyan government has been trying to address the issue of unemployment through labor export, but many job seekers are turning to TikTok to find work abroad. The platform is popular in Kenya, with over 62% of the population using it, according to the Reuters Institute.
However, many agencies on TikTok are not registered with the Kenyan government and are engaging in illegal recruitment practices. In May, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection released a list of more than 30 blacklisted agencies, but some have continued to proliferate on the platform.
Halisi Affiliates, an unregistered recruiter, used TikTok to advertise jobs across Europe and North America. A job seeker, Nimo, paid the agency 150,000 Kenyan shillings for a restaurant job in Romania, but was left waiting for months without any update.
Another job seeker, Sylvia Wairimu Maina, was promised an assistant nursing role in Rotterdam, Netherlands, by Halisi's British partner, Global Employment Consultant. However, she never received a refund after being left with "no money, no savings."
Halisi and its partner denied any wrongdoing, but their new company, Fly With Halisi, has appeared on TikTok and Facebook. The agency claimed to have filed a police report and refunded several clients, but did not answer follow-up questions about its offices' new business with the same name.
TikTok did not respond to multiple requests for comment, including a list of the accounts tracked by the Guardian. Neither WorldPath nor Global Employment Consultant responded to questions.
The incident highlights the vulnerability of job seekers in Kenya who are desperate to find work abroad. Scammers on TikTok are preying on their desperation, leaving many with financial ruin.
! Can't these scammers just create a decent website or something instead of relying on social media? It's like they're taking advantage of the fact that people are desperate for jobs and can't even be bothered to verify their credentials. And what really gets my goat is that TikTok isn't doing much to stop this. I mean, I know it's not their problem directly, but shouldn't they at least have some sort of system in place to report suspicious activity? 
It's just another example of how social media companies can be so lax when it comes to protecting their users from scammers.
It's not like they're fooling anyone with their fancy logos and job descriptions.
I'm so fed up with these scammers on TikTok targeting people who really need a job and they just take advantage of them 
... like Lilian's story - she lost a whole year's savings to some fake recruitment agency 
. It's not fair to those people who are struggling to make ends meet and are desperate for work abroad. The Kenyan government needs to step up their efforts to crack down on these agencies and protect the job seekers 
. I mean, how can TikTok just sit back and let this happen? They need to take responsibility and do something about it 
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62% of Kenyans on TikTok are using it to find work abroad but honestly, most agencies aren't registered with the government and it's just not worth the risk... I mean, who needs a fake job interview when you can have a real one with a legit company? 
They need to get their act together ASAP! 
. I think we can find a way to balance helping people find work with keeping them safe from scams 
. We should be looking out for each other on these platforms and supporting honest job seekers who are trying to make a good life for themselves 
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. And it's not just one or two cases, there are like multiple agencies going around and making the same promises 
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The government should be doing more to regulate these agencies and protect job seekers. And TikTok needs to do some serious quality control on the accounts they're allowing to post 
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oh man this is so messed up 
they prey on people's desperation and it's just not right 
can't believe agencies are faking jobs and documents 
what's next? is it gonna be fake marriages or something 
no seriously tho, this is a huge issue and we need better regulation on the platform ASAP 
Maybe the Kenyan government should consider partnering with TikTok or other platforms to provide more transparency and support for job seekers?
. And what really gets me is that these agencies are using TikTok to do this, knowing how desperate some people are to find work abroad 
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. I mean, I know we're living in a time where info is literally at our fingertips, but can't they just be honest for once? 
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. TikTok also needs to step up their game and hold these scammers accountable 
maybe there's a way to verify the authenticity of job listings on tiktok or something 
but really its just fake ads from shady agencies trying to take advantage of ppl 
this is so sad lilian's story is just one example of how these scammers operate... no wonder kenyan gov can't seem to crack down on them, there r so many fake agencies out there. i feel 4 all those ppl who r gettin exploited like that 
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