How Vigo Cruises stole $1000 from me
We have received a sad and desperate email from Ravi from India. Here is his story:
First of all I was sent a mail by Vigo Cruises to fill up the form and I was told to forward it back to them.
Later they offered me a "Letter of Offer" as a deck mate and there was written that the confirmed appointment takes effect upon approval of employment authorization / pass by the Malaysian Ommigration Department.
Later I received a mail on the same day which had "Details of Offer Letter" and adviced me to contact the office of Evelyn Laika Wirkom & Co (Immigration attorney & barrister at law) and would assist me in getting the work permit. The mail format was as such:
Detailed Offer Letter
We wish to convey the decision of the Board of directors of Vigo Cruises and to inform you of the following:-
During the first term of work, A formal review will be conducted in the penultimate year of each successive to determine whether another appointment/contract will be offered. This appointment/contract is subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees and your employment is subject to all rules, regulations and policies of the Company and benefits/incentives has been given and communicated to you officially through the contract agreement.
The MARINE Industry is required by federal law to verify the identity and work authorization of all new employees. Accordingly, this offer is contingent upon such verification. You will be asked by a representative of this department to complete an Immigration Form (Employment Eligibility Verification form) If you are not presently authorized to work and live in MALAYSIA, it is important that you inform our department of any special circumstances or concerns as soon as possible.
The Office of EVELYN LAIKA WIRKOM & CO, Email: evelynwirkom_lawyer@baofmal.zzn.com (Immigration Attorney & Barrister at Law, will assist you with immigration processing as needed. This department must make the first contact with before you can receive immigration guidance/employment pass approval. NOTE, that Malaysian Embassies abroad are not allowed to issue employment pass/ approvals to foreign workers/expatriate as it is only processed/issued by the Immigration department, Malaysia.
However, Processing/Mobilisation fees charged by the representative is your SOLE responsibility upon approval Vigo Cruise would ship via DHL a Flight Ticket to you, also accommodation/and transportation in and out shall be provided by the Vigo cruise. All expenses would only be reimbursed in favour of new employee upon joining the Company successfully, as stated in the Contract Agreement. Go ahead and contact directly the CHAMBERS to apply for the above in advance to expedite action. Email/ evelynwirkom_lawyer@baofmal.zzn.com with a copy of your identifications/PASSPORT. after which an official letter would be sent to you together with the Immigration Employment approval.
NOTE, that, Embassy would only issue you an entry visa when you produce a letter of acceptance from Vigo Cruise/employment approval from the Immigration department.
Thanks.
Ms Rani Savana
Then I contacted Evelyn Laika Wirkom & Co and I was told to send my passport and CDC scan copy. Then Evelyn Laika Wirkom infromed me that for the immigration procesing fee is usd $500 (approximately 1900 MYR) and gave me the letter for the bank transfer from India. His account details as follow:
Account Number: 4 3153636 31
Bank: Public Bank, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Account Holder - Evelyn Laika Wirkom
Office address: Evelyn Laika Wirkom & Co, 13 Lorong Selamate, off Jalan Pudu, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: 017 2553975
According to his given details i sent him USD $500 through the State Bank of India in the form of t.t (bank transfer).
But later in the mail he informed me that he did not received the amount. Evelyn Laika futher included that not to waste the time for the money to reach him which was sent by the bank transfer and Evelyn told me to send another USD $500 through other means as the appointment date was already crossed.
Evelyn told me that he called the company to extend my appointment date for one more month. And as soon as he receives the bank transfer money he shall return to me but told me to send USD $500 immediately for the work permit.
Then any how I managed with my brother who is staying in Singapore to send USD $500 through the Western Union money transfer (later which I had to pay him).
Ater that Evelyn informed me that they received my money and told that they will start my work as soon as possible.
Then i was relaxed that my work would be completed. But this relaxation paid for little time till Evelyn again infromed me for more money for the "drug clearance" and told me to pay as soon as possible USD $1220, otherwise my immigration clearence (work permit) would hang out and later my appointment will be cancelled and my money will be lost.
The letter format was as such:
.Dear client,
Please get back to us as soon as possible, we have already cleared the transfer made for the work authorisation and application deposited with the immigration already. We will need your fingerprint to finalise the process as the procedure now requires crew member to officially be cleared by the Malaysia drug law enforcement agency.
The procedure is such that, with the new system personal informations will be tracked to ascertain if a prospective crew member has been involved/convincted of any drug related cases. The (DLEA) would then issue a drug clearance certificate in your name if proved negative. The fee has been peged at $1220 USD depending on your nationality.
But if you already have a police security check in your country, you can forward it to this honourable chambers with a fee of $720 for legalisation/notarisation of the check with the appropriate authority in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. Otherwise send in your fingerprint on a plain white A4 size paper and email the scaned copy to us as soon as possible.
Please inform us your nationality at birth to confirm this with the agency.
Also very important to note, please request from your cruise employer to issue you with a letter of job gurantee before we proceed with the drug clearance issue.
Please, co-operate with us as we did not mention this earlier. This was ocassioned by the fact that the ship would be moving from one country to another and you would need to be cleared with drug cases. Please treat as very important and send to us your fingerprint and the fee. The process normally takes one week to obtain together with the immigration work pass.
We regret any inconviniences this would cause to your integrity.
Thanks.
Wirkom & Co
Then I urged him that I cannot afford such a big amount again and requested him to refund my amount USD $1000 which I have sent through the bank transfer and through the Western Union money transfer, Singapore.
But later he spoke rashly and said that the full amount was spent for the immigration stamp paper work. And told me not to irritate him again on money matter.
Now he is not even responding to my mails or even to phone calls. Then later I took the whole matter to the Vigo Cruises International but they too did not respond.
Then I came to know that my whole money was lost then I looked out for ways and means for complaining to the Malaysian Government to get my money back but I failed to get the right way to complain against them.
Read more about various cruise ship employment scams.
