Jeddah: While heading to Dubai, Mohammed Shoaib Khan, a Hyderabad resident, was jubilant that he had found a high-paying job despite his meager qualifications and work experience.
The only brother among six siblings, his went to Dubai thinking he will earn enough money to get his five sisters married and find the best treatment for his ailing father. He landed in Sharjah with many dreams, bearing the responsibility of his family at a young age of 23 years.
Upon his arrival, he was kept in a tiny room and told that the office was undergoing renovation. Meanwhile, he was asked to work from home by his so-called employer.
Shoaib alleged that he had signed some documents brought by the employer to apply for a residency visa and bank account for salary.
Days, weeks and then months passed with no salary. Aggrieved Shoaib Khan approached the local authorities for help. When records were accessed, it was found that salary was transferred to his account.
Dirhams 10,850 (approximately Rs. 2.45 lakh) monthly salary with other allowances, as promised, were credited into his account to which he has no access.
A few days later came a rude shock to Shoaib and his family — a debt recovery agents was knocking at the door of his family home in Hyderabad. The agent told the family that Shoaib had defaulted on credit card bill payment.
Speaking with Siasat.com, Shoaib said he never applied for one. Now he is running from pillar to post, seeking help to prove his innocence.
Shoaib is among a group of youth who were lured into jobs in Dubai and falsely implicated into credit card scams where the ‘fraudulent’ employers use credit cards of the newly arriving employees without their knowledge, availing advance cash facility.
Many Telangana youths are stranded in Dubai after being trapped in a credit card scam by fraudulent recruitment agents back home. The youth were offered lucrative jobs and high perks by scammers only to extract the money and implicate them in financial scams.
Upon reaching UAE, these youths were employed and their high salaries were also paid as agents promised, but only on paper. However, the youth were not given any job nor money to meet the basic day-to-day expenses.
While the stranded youth are demanding proper jobs and salary payment in the Gulf, their families in India are being harassed by debt recovery agents.
“With no job and no money, I approached the local authorities in Dubai and Sharjah for help. While my parents received phone calls from bank agents in India everyday,” said Mohammed Shoaib Khan.
In such a complicated fraud case, it takes several months to investigate. Until then Shoaib Khan and scores like him are not allowed to leave the UAE.
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