The warning comes after the local authority received a complaint from a graduate seeking work in the oil industry. He had applied for a vacancy through the website First Oil Energy. Its website states the firm was "founded in July 2008 on the fundamental principles of applying state-of-the-art petroleum and natural gas exploration and extraction technology to the development of onshore oil and natural gas projects."
Following the graduate's application, he was informed that he would be offered a position – on the condition that he undertook an online training course through Oil Education via its website. On this website, Oil Education claims to have been "working at the forefront of our industry" since 2005, and aims to "deliver over 200,000 learning events in over 30 countries and more than 20 languages" every year.
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Aberdeen City Council said a three-figure sum was paid by the graduate for the training course, but he was then contacted by Oil Education to say that the fee was incorrect, and the correct amount should be £1,000 more. Oil Education agreed to refund the amount already paid, but when no refund was received after three weeks, the job hunter complained to the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline. The case was then passed on to Trading Standards which quickly established that both websites appeared to be part of a scam. The websites had only been registered in the last two months by individuals who identified themselves as non-trading UK individuals. Additional checks also revealed that a majority of the websites' content, such as biographies of the directors, company names and addresses, had been copied from legitimate firms.
Commenting on the scam, Carole Jackson, Environmental Health and Trading Standards Manager, Aberdeen City Council, said: "We are concerned that people looking to improve their career opportunities are being targeted by such websites. There are genuine online learning course providers, and a list of those applicable to the Oil and Gas industry can be checked on the website of OPITO, the industry's focal point for skills, training and workforce development www.opito.com/training-providers or by contacting them on (01224) 787800."
