Hiring

Starwood Hotels warns jobseekers of recruitment scam

by XPRESS, 07 August 2015

Starwood Hotels & Resorts has confirmed it is the subject of a recruitment scam in which international candidates are asked to pay for work permits enabling them to work at one of its UK locations.

Recruiter was approached by a candidate based in the Philippines who applied for the role of door person at Starwood’s hotel Sheraton, Park Lane, in London’s West End, on job search engine Nora New Zealand.

The candidate was then sent a reply purportedly from the Sheraton hotel from thesheratonhotellondon@consultant.com, along with an interview form.

The candidate was then sent another email with a ‘contract of agreement’ from the same email address, requesting he contact the travel agent, which the sender of the email said Sheraton Park Lane works with, at cook.thomasimmigration@europe.com.

He was then sent another email from a ‘Thomas Cook’ who asked the candidate to go to their nearest Money Gram agent and pay a ‘required work permit registration fee of £462.99’ to an accountant called John Markman at a ‘pay out address’ of 387a North Deeside Road Aberdeen, AB15 9SX.

When contacted by Recruiter, a Starwood spokesperson said in a statement that while the group’s HR team was unaware of this particular case, they could confirm this was indeed a scam and the group takes this issue “very seriously”.

The spokesperson added Starwood’s careers site carries guidance and advice to applicants to help prevent them from becoming victims of employment fraud. The website makes it clear Starwood does not ask job applicants for money payments in any form and candidates should protect themselves by never giving money to any person in connection with an application for a job with one of its hotels.

Candidates who think they have been contacted by these or similar illegal organisations are advised to alert Starwood of any suspicious approaches from individuals or businesses claiming to represent the company. They should also keep a record of everything they have received they believe is fraudulent and send that information on to Starwood’s specific team designated to dealing with employment fraud at employmentfraud@starwoodhotels.com.

The spokesperson added Starwood has shared the details of this case with its senior security team, who will officially log it with Action Fraud – the UK’s national fraud and internet crime reporting centre – for further investigation.

Recruiter contacted Thomas Cook for comment but had not heard back by press deadline.

 

 

Article Source: Recruiter