Watch out for South Africa Post Office jobs on Facebook – they’re a scam

The hoax advert was first posted here on Facebook on June 2, 2021, on a page called “Post Office Jobs”, where it was shared over 1,200 times before the post went offline.

Image

Screenshot of the scam jobs post, taken on June 11, 2021

The post asked applicants to submit documents through a Google Sites link. It also asked them to share the post and instructed those who were unable to apply through the link to send a direct message to the page for further instructions.

The same jobs listing was also published on another jobs-focused Facebook page here on June 4, 2021.

Impostor page

However, the South Africa Post Office confirmed to AFP Fact Check that it has no association with the “Post Office jobs” page and added that it has not advertised the jobs on Facebook.

“The Facebook page in question is not the official page of the South Africa Post Office. The South Africa Post Office advertises vacancies only on its website, where the vacancies appear under the tab ‘careers’,” said Johan Kruger, a spokesman for the South Africa Post Office.

Kruger added that the South Africa Post Office never demands money in advance for employment.   

“Naturally we do not expect would-be employees to pay for their application,” he said. 

According to Facebook’s page transparency information, the impostor Facebook page was created on March 28, 2021. As of June 11, the page only had one post - this fake job advert.

Image

Screenshot showing page transparency information of the impostor page, taken on June 11, 2021

Meanwhile, the official South Africa Post Office Facebook account was created on January 11, 2021.

Scammers preying on unemployed job-seekers 

More than a third of South Africa’s working population is currently unemployed, making the country fertile ground for job scammers. 

On June 1, 2021, AFP reported that South Africa’s unemployment rate had climbed to its highest level on record in the first quarter of 2021. The jobless rate stands at 32.6 percent, which is the highest figure since the start of the country’s labour force survey in 2008.

AFP Fact Check has repeatedly debunked job scams in South Africa, such as here, here and here. 

Both Africa Check and GroundUp have recently published in-depth reports detailing how scammers are preying on unemployed South Africans. The reports reveal that social media platforms such as Facebook are littered with pages advertising jobs that do not exist.

Often, the scammers ask for application or registration fees from desperate job seekers. Alternatively, they ask them to share posts and make them go viral, then earn money through Google AdSense, which monetizes posts with high engagement.