An advertisement claiming to invite applications for jobs at the Red Cross Society in Uganda is circulating on Facebook.
The ad directs interested applicants to a Google document where applicants are to fill in an application form. Information on the application form indicates that the mass recruitment would allegedly hire 50 people from every district in Uganda and gives an application deadline of December 1, 2020.
Background
The Uganda Red Cross Society is among the 49 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in Sub-Saharan Africa, as part of the worldwide International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), which has created jobs for thousands of people in its humanitarian works.
Piga Firimbi previously looked into a fake advertisement for jobs at Kenya’s National Construction Authority, and further published a report unveiling a surge in online scams and conmanship during the COVID-19 pandemic. This video shows how you can avoid falling victim to such quacks.
Verification
The Uganda Red Cross Society has not advertised the aforementioned jobs on its official Twitter or Facebook accounts as well as on its website, where any public communication from the Red Cross Society in Uganda is routinely shared. All official social media accounts belonging to the Society are verified.
Information on the Google Docs application form shared on Facebook requires applicants to fill the form and send a membership fee of UGX 21,000 before completing an application.
However, the recruitment process for jobs at the IFRC, according to a post on the IFRC website, does not require one to pay a membership registration fee. The Uganda Red Cross Society also published a Facebook post on November 4, warning that an official recruitment process from the organization would not involve any payment.
“We would like to make it clear that we have a formal recruitment process that does not involve any payments nor tag recruitment on membership subscription fees.”
In a tweet published on the Uganda Red Cross official account on November 24, the job advertisement circulating on Facebook was declared fake.
Calling for Public Vigilance.
Scamers want to use this period to announce Fake Jobs alleging that we are inviting applicants to deploy under emergency response. Dont be a victim of Fraud! @UCC_Official @UCC_ED @PoliceUg pic.twitter.com/0OM0JuM1Zo— Uganda Red Cross Soc (@UgandaRedCross) November 24, 2020
Legitimate job advertisements from the organization would ordinarily be posted on the Uganda Red Cross website, its official social media accounts or the New Vision and Daily Monitor local newspapers- the November 4 Facebook post from the Uganda Red Cross Society states.
Verdict
The job advertisements claiming that the Uganda Red Cross Society is recruiting 50 people in every district in Uganda is FAKE.
Add comment