'We have never scammed people': Trust Recruit says scammers have been using their 'good reputation' to lure victims

Trust issues?

Scammers have been claiming to be from a company called Trust Recruit to lure victims into their scams.

That has been an issue for Trust Recruit, which is a legit company.

The director of Trust Recruit, Ulina, told Stomp: "Trust Recruit is a real company, established in 2019 in Singapore, specialising in IT, engineering, manufacturing, banking, services recruitment and has since gained favourable reputation over the years.

"We have never scammed people. You can refer to our 4.9-star Google review. All of those are genuine experiences from job seekers."

Ulina believes that it is Trust Recruit's good reputation that attracted scammers to use her company's name.

"We understand that there are high number of scammers posing as Trust Recruit consultants on WhatsApp and Telegram," she said.

"These job scams typically involve unsolicited job offers such as rating airlines to increase the popularity of the airlines on a full-time or part-time basis."

Stomp recently reported one such case where Stomp contributor S received a Telegam message from someone who claimed to be from Trust Recruit and recruited him for a job rating airlines, but he ended up losing $413 to the scam.

Because of the Stomp report, Ulina said: "Many of our clients and associates called and verified with us, which in some way damaged our business reputation.

"Over the past six months, we have received an average of 10 to 20 calls and e-mails daily from members of the public clarifying job scammers using our company name and consultants' names.

"The scammers even use our employees' real photographs and design their own name cards, adopting Trust Recruit's logo, address and email address."

The names and photos of Trust Recruit's employees can be found by searching the Employment Agencies Directory on the Ministry of Manpower's website.

Last month, Stomp contributor Hellsing was also contacted by a scammer who claimed to be from Trust Recruit.

"I received a Telegram message out of the blue like Stomp contributor S," he said.

"I know that there are many red flags."

The scammer sent an image of a business card with Trust Recruit's actual logo and contact details.

"Do note that the scammers can change from Trust Recruit to Morgan McKinley to People Search," said Hellsing, who has received a number of such messages. "But it's the same job rating airlines."

Those are all names of legit recruitment companies used by scammers to lend credibility to their ruse.

Ulina said: "At Trust Recruit, we will never ask anyone for money in return for an interview or a job application. It is against our code of conduct and business values to do so.

"If anyone comes across recruitment communication requesting any form of payment, consider it a scam.

"Please get in touch with us at [email protected] for any clarification."

This article was first published in Stomp. Permission required for reproduction.