Photographs and logos of some foreign employment agencies have been used to create fake Facebook pages, leading to financial scams targeting people seeking work abroad, according to U Myat Thu, secretary of the Myanmar Overseas Employment Services Association.

"Many people are being scammed with fake agency names and pages using photographs and logos of official agencies. Scammers open fake social media pages and answer calls pretending to be employment agencies. They then ask people to transfer money for work and disappear after receiving the cash. These incidents are becoming more frequent," said U Myat Thu.

He added that there are weaknesses in the actions against fraudsters, allowing them to continue their crimes. "Such incidents have been happening in the past, but it's getting worse now. The ministry is trying to take action against these fake pages, but some still exist," he said.

U Myat Thu advised those seeking employment abroad to contact and work with legally licensed foreign employment agencies.

Recently, a woman defrauded 126 people by claiming she could secure them seasonal work in Korea. According to an announcement by Myint Mo Academy Group, Daw Chaw Su Hlaing promised to send workers to Korea within seven days and collected money from trainees. She took Ks 3,200,000 each from the trainees, signing contracts to obtain the money. However, she failed to send the trainees abroad as promised. Legal action will be taken if she does not return the funds within seven days from the date of the advertisement.

There are over 500 officially licensed foreign employment agencies in Myanmar that are sending workers abroad.