IPOH: Young people eager to secure employment make them ideal targets for Job scam syndicates, says the Labour Department.
Its director-general Kamal Pardi said that while forced labour cases involve people of all ages, most are younger individuals, especially after finishing their studies.
He said most would be looking for jobs and would not be alert to the fact that some of those contacting them or advertisements they see are actually fake.
"They are drawn in by the promises of high salaries and perks," he said after officiating the "Preventing Worker Exploitation: Towards Zero Forced Labour 2030 Roadshow" at a shopping mall here on Friday (May 23).
"Some end up lured overseas and become victims of forced labour," he said.
Kamal said that the main contributing factor was the lack of awareness among jobseekers.
"It's important they learn to identify the signs of a scam, whether the job offer is local or abroad," he said.
He advised jobseekers to register with legitimate job-matching platforms such as MyFutureJobs under PERKESO, which replaced the previous JobsMalaysia portal previously managed by the Labour Department.
The roadshow is expected to travel from Perak, Kedah, Penang and Perlis, to deliver direct outreach and information to targeted communities.
