Beware: Fake Life Healthcare jobs advertised

Johannesburg – Fraudulent job adverts under the pretense of being offered by Life Healthcare are doing the rounds, the private hospital operator warned.

The fake advertisements are a scam to solicit money from potential job seekers, using Life Healthcare hospital names.

The advertisements are placed on recruitment websites or job portals, where both genuine and fraudulent vacancies are advertised. Applicants are requested to make an upfront payment as part of their application, possibly as much as R4 000. Once applicants have paid the fee, they receive no further feedback and are unable to contact the person who posted the job advertisement, Life Healthcare warned in a statement.

“Over the past 12 months the hospital industry has become aware of fraudulent job offers, but we have seen a marked increase in these postings over the past few weeks,” said Human Resources executive Juliet Mhango.

“Job seekers who apply for hospital positions and are subsequently requested to make a payment upfront should not part with any money as this is not how we recruit new employees,” she said.

“We encourage job seekers to rather visit the Life Healthcare careers page and follow the application process from there.”

Job seekers should alert managers of the online portals about the advertisements.

Warning signs

Job seekers should look out for cell numbers used as contact numbers. Scammers may use the excuse that landline numbers are out of order. A red flag should be raised if the only contact method is a fax number.  

A fraudulent advertisement has an application form requesting banking details, as well as upfront payment is requested for administration purposes.

Applicants should also beware if no face-to-face interviews are requested. The posts also often do not have the full hospital name. For example, the hospital will be listed as Bedford Gardens Hospital instead of Life Bedford Gardens Hospital.

It may be that the job advertised may in fact coincide with an existing vacant position at Life Healthcare, but job seekers should contact the HR administrator of the hospital to clarify if the hospital has advertised posts on a career or recruitment website.

Candidates can check legitimate positions on the Life Healthcare careers web page here.

READ: Mediclinic warns of jobs for cash scam

Earlier this year, Fin24 reported that scamsters were falsely advertising jobs for the Mediclinic and Netcare brands on social media platforms as well as emails and texts.

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) also issued a warning for job seekers to be aware of fraudulent job advertisements at the tax authority.