How rogue agents fleece desperate Kenyans in Gulf job scams

DESPERATE Kenyans are spending huge sums of money on job hunting in the Gulf and sometimes losing to honey-tongued con men taking advantage of the unemployment crisis in the country, a Star investigation has revealed.

Meet Nelson*, a 40-year-old degree holder and father of two who has been doing low-paying jobs for years. [*Names have been changed to protect identities]. He was supposed to travel to Bahrain for work before Christmas last year, but he is still stuck in Nairobi jobless after he resigned for the promised greener pastures.

His contact person in the Gulf nation keeps postponing the plans, pushing Nelson deeper into despair.

“An official from the company told me to wait until Thursday,” the exhausted man told the Star on Tuesday. That same woman had promised Nelson that the visa issue delaying his travel would be cleared the previous Sunday.

Nelson said he no longer spoke to the agent he had sent money and documents months ago when he began the process. He kept taking him around in circles. The woman he is waiting to sort things out for him is from the second prospective employer after negotiations with the first apparently failed.

Nelson was working as a security guard when a relative doing domestic work in Saudi Arabia linked him up with an agent in Bahrain, who told him a certain firm needed two employees immediately.

They communicated through WhatsApp calls and messages.

“He explained to me the terms and conditions and we agreed. I sent him Sh9,000 for a medical report. He sent me a form for meningitis, measles and yellow fever vaccinations,” Nelson said.

But he was not vaccinated. “What happened is that I sent the money and received a form that was already filled.” Thereafter he was directed to a hospital in Nairobi for medical tests that cost him Sh12,500.

After sending the medical report, the agent booked an interview with the prospective employer, a travel firm where Nelson was to work as guard. He was supposed to receive a job offer, sign it, send them the money for a visa and then fly out.

But after the interview, he was informed that the agent had not remitted the money for the visa. When Nelson raised the matter with him, he told him to be patient. “Recently, he has become evasive and rude when I press him and demand my money back if there is no job.”

He started the migration process in November last year. “That was when the agent told me there was an opportunity and it was urgent. I should send him the required money so that he could prepare for my travel before the end of December,” Nelson said.

He frantically raised the money from his savings and contributions from family and friends.

“The first time I sent him Sh100,000 and the second Sh90,000. The total was supposed to be Sh200,000. Adding the medical form fees and for the tests, the total came to around Sh230,000,” he said. He is yet to pay the agent a balance of Sh10,000. The money covers the air ticket, which the agent should send Nelson.

He was all set for a new life abroad, waving a happy goodbye to many hard years of unemployment and low pay in Nairobi and other towns. His salary would be Sh55,000 for a contract lasting four years. The job would open a new chapter of life for Nelson’s young family.

“When I told him that I needed to give my employer notice of resignation, he told me, ‘Drop the job, you will be coming before December 24’,” he recalls. He resigned immediately and began packing. And then the waiting began.

“I was mad at him and demanded my money back. I told him he should not take me for a fool,” Nelson said. The agent told him he would link him up with a different employer who would pay him about Sh49,000 plus any overtime. The contract would be for two years renewable.

“I did the first interview on January 11 and was successful. They later called me for another interview, which they are processing now. But the problem is that the medical report has already expired after two months. This means I will have to undergo medical tests afresh. That’s another Sh12,500.”

From our inquiries, there are flights to Bahrain for as low as Sh40,000 one way. If Nelson’s agent sends him a ticket, it means the broker pockets Sh150,000 from that single deal.

Betty, a 30-year-old single mother of two, travelled to Qatar for work last October. She had spent two years as a domestic worker in Saudi Arabia. “We contacted an agent in Nairobi with offices not far from Afya Centre. There are several recruitment companies in the building,” Betty’s mother said.

When Betty went to Saudi Arabia in 2023, she did not pay a cent. The recruitment company that organised her trip paid for everything. “Once you are hired, they deduct their money from your pay,” Betty’s mother said.

“When they take you, they get you an employer. They negotiate your pay and their cut. The employer sends the money to the recruiting company that pays you.”

After Betty completed her two-year contract, she flew back to Kenya last July. She didn’t want to continue doing domestic work in Saudi Arabia. While here, she tried Qatar. “That company took from us Sh200,000. I have threatened to take action against the man. I have the messages of the cash transfers,” Betty’s mother said.

“I had told the agent I wanted my child to go to Qatar but did not want her to do domestic work. We agreed. He told me she would be hired as a cleaner. But he lied. I first sent him Sh50,000 and later Sh150,000."

"He had said a cleaner’s job required Sh200,000. My daughter made all the preparations, including medical tests that we paid for separately. The total I spent came to around Sh230,000. But the cash I sent him directly was Sh200,000 and I have never deleted the messages.”

The agent told them Betty would be paid between Sh70,000 and Sh80,000 a month as a cleaner. But shock awaited her when she arrived in Doha.

“She arrived in Qatar and was received well and taken to the company premises, where she found other job seekers from the Philippines. When she inquired what work she was going to do, she was told domestic duties.”

Betty protested, telling her handlers it was not what she had agreed to. She was heartbroken and wept for days. She refused to do any work for almost two weeks, staying in the company hostel. She demanded to be returned. But she was told she would have to meet her travel costs to Nairobi. She didn’t have the money. Eventually, she agreed to take up the domestic job for two years for a much lower pay of Sh47,000.

“The agent said he would refund us Sh80,000 but hasn’t, despite many reminders,” Betty’s mother said. “That man is a fraudster,” Betty’s younger brother added. “He keeps promising he would call back every time I talk to him but never does.”

A reliable source in Nairobi connected the Star to a job agent in Qatar. Our reporter posed as a father looking for a job for his son. “For young men it is very easy. Women have to wait longer to get a visa,” he said via WhatsApp.

Gardeners can be paid up to Sh45,000 while warehouse assistants get Sh42,000. The agent asked for a copy of the passport of the jobseeker, a police clearance certificate (previously known as Certificate of Good Conduct), passport size photos and a processing charge of Sh200,000 that covers the air ticket.

A big problem for job seekers like Nelson and Betty is the uncertainty about whether the agent is genuine or a con man. Our source in Nairobi cited the case of a relative he assisted to fly out to work in Qatar a few years ago. “He has built his house, married and recently bought a plot. There are many Kenyans doing well through jobs in the Gulf,” he said.

But even as Nelson struggles to keep his hope of flying out to Bahrain alive, he urged caution. “Many agents advertise jobs in the Gulf on TikTok or Facebook. You might be fooled into thinking you have landed a legitimate agency but it is not. Even a visa may be electronically edited to read your name but when you present it, it is rejected. Your money is gone.”

Last month, Labour CS Alfred Mutua acknowledged the existence of rogue recruiters. He advised job seekers to visit the National Employment Authority website, www.neaims.go.ke, for the list of registered recruitment agencies.