Seafarer job offer scams and hoaxes

You may have received a job offer from a cruise company or what looks to be a government or maritime industry organisation without applying. There are many scammers who will pose as a cruise company, government or maritime industry organisation to take your money or your identity. Please be aware of email, internet and telephone hoaxes and scams.

Real or fake job offer

If you suspect the email is a hoax, there are some questions you need to ask:

• Does the job offer sound or look real?
• Did you apply for the job that is being offered?

Receiving a job offer from a company that you haven't submitted a job application with can be one of the first signs that the offer is not real.

We will never request money to be paid to another organisation, company or account

The job offer may be fake if:

• the company asks for personal identification and financial information using the job application form
• you are asked to pay fees related to work permits, police clearance checks, visas, MSIC cards (Maritime Security Identification Card), marine certificates and other licences
• the company is collecting the money for us or you are told that we require the fees be paid to the fake company.

Look at the email address

Our authentic email addresses

• Our email addresses end with: ‘@amsa.gov.au’.
• Our email addresses do not contain numbers or strange letters.

Fake emails

• The email address: ‘australiamaritimeoffice@postinbox.com [1]’ is fake.
• Email addresses like: '123456@amsa.gov.au [2]' or 'John.Citizen123@amsa.gov.au [3]' and similar are fake.
• We are the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA not the 'Australian Maritime Office' or 'Australia Maritime Union'.
• 'Captain Mrs. Mirabelle Mass of the Australian Maritime Office’ and 'Mr. Gordon Lawton Llewellyn of the Australia Maritime Union' are fake and do not work for us.

If you've been scammed

Do not reply

It may be tempting to reply to them or ask follow up questions—but do not reply to the email or call them back unless you find out it is real.

Contact the actual company offering you the job

Find out if the job offer is real by contacting the organisation that made the offer.

• Do not reply to the email or use the contact details they have given you for the job offer.
• Contact the actual company using their official website or phone number as listed in a telephone directory to ask if the job offer is real.

Report the scam

Report suspected scams to Scamwatch [4] at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Working in Australia

• See Department of Home Affairs [5] for information about working in Australia.
• See Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development [6] for information on how to apply for a Maritime Security Identification Card (MSIC) and a list of issuing bodies [7] that provide them.