A north-east oil and gas worker who was offered a minimum £28,500 a month to become a subsea supervisor in Alaska quickly realised that it was a scam.
Gavin Buchan, who lives in Laurencekirk, said the tempting salary was too good to be true.
Alaska is not known for its subsea industry, and bogus contact numbers in emails offering him work offered more clues that he was being targeted by a fraudster.
Mr Buchan is now warning other Scots, including the many thousands out of work as a result of the oil and gas downturn, to be on their guard.
In April, Energy Voice exclusively reported on the increase in job scams being offered to oil workers. Read more here.
He said: “There are people in the north-east that would and could get sucked into losing money they cannot afford to lose on a scam such as this. I am sure there are more like this going around.”
His fake offer of a one month on, one month off rota job with “Conoco Philips Alaska”, along with a request for him to contact “immigration lawyer” Christopher Varden about the steps he needed to take to obtain a visa and other papers, came in communications purporting to be from Houston-based oil and gas firm ConocoPhillips.
It is the latest example of scammers trying to con people out of money, with applicants for non-existent jobs overseas being asked for payments to cover processing fees, visas and work permits.
Earlier this year, the Press and Journal highlighted warnings from Paragon Offshore, Total, Maersk Oil and Asco that scammers were offering fake jobs in their name.
A spokeswoman at ConocoPhillips, which also has an alert on its website, said: “Oil and gas companies have become aware of activities where criminals are using their company name and logo in employment scams.
“These scams can appear professional, so it is important that any prospective applicant research the legitimacy of recruiting communications to stop fraudsters and avoid falling victim.
“Although counterfeit recruiting communications can be difficult to detect, there are some common indicators to help spot the frauds.
“ConocoPhillips and its affiliated companies will never ask for fees or up-front payments during the recruitment process or as part of an offer of employment, nor will they ask for new hires to pay any fees associated with their employment, including visa applications.
“Job-seekers must be sceptical, vigilant and realistic, particularly when in receipt of unsolicited email job offers.”
The spokeswoman said common “red flags” included job offers without face-to-face interviews, strange wording, unrealistic salaries and recruiters asking for money up-front.
Urging caution, she added: “Protect yourself by looking very carefully at exactly where emails originate from and by using a search engine to check the website of the real employer for fraud warnings.
“Above all, if a recruiter demands money up-front, you know it’s a scam.”
The emails that were sent to Mr Buchan, who works as a subsea engineer for one of the big North Sea operators, used ConocoPhillips branding and the firm’s real address – but with a different postal zipcode.
One of the mobile phone numbers in the emails is registered in the UK but the owner was overseas yesterday.
Asked about the emails and job offer, the man at the other end of the line said: “I don’t know what you are talking about. Don’t call me again.”
Mr Buchan was initially contacted about a potential job in Aberdeen.
He said the offer of work as a subsea supervisor in Alaska which followed was the “clunk” as there were no subsea operations in the state.
As well as a salary of at least £28,500 a month free of all taxes, the job offer from a Mr Manek Cronner, “head human resources department”, came with generous allowances worth thousands of pounds for items such as car maintenance, house and furnishings, and entertainment and recreation.
Neil Gordon, chief executive of industry body Subsea UK said: “Most subsea professionals will be aware that subsea opportunities in Alaska are few and far between.
“However, it is worth highlighting these scams as they can look very convincing.
“Job-seekers must question the validity of any such job opportunity, particularly in the current climate when these scammers are preying on those who may be concerned about job uncertainties.”
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