In the name of providing jobs in Singapore, a fake recruitment firm has allegedly conned about 500 young men in Odisha and adjoining Andhra Pradesh.
The victims realised that they had been cheated when they found the firm’s office at Bhabinipur, on the outskirts of Berhampur, locked for a long time.
The victims had responded to job advertisements by the firm and their ‘interviews’ were held in Chennai.
Later the firm demanded ₹30,000 from each of the ‘selected’ candidates for visa and other expenses. About 500 of them paid the amount at the Bhabinipur office of the firm.
Passports taken away
Two firm employees, Subrat Kumar Pal and Balaram Moharana, both residents of Berhampur, collected the money from them.
The duo also took away their passports and other documents.
Some of the victim, who had received the ‘appointment letters’, had booked plane tickets to Singapore but were unable to contact the agents and found the office locked.
When they contacted the companies in Singapore, they realised that they had been duped.
A case was registered at Berhampur on Saturday.