Newbie Here..

Hello zhelle.

Welcome to Expat.com!

Do not hesitate to ask your questions.

Thank you,
Aurélie

Hi there aurielle!

Thank you, uhm i am wondering if anyone from here is living in crete? I am asking because i received a job offer from istron bay hotel, i dont know if that is legit because they te told me that they are shouldering my flight tickets and accommodatio ns but my work permit will be shouldered by me. They also said that they have a travel agency partnered with them that will assist me on the work permit process and i need to pay for 280euros. They also told me that the work will start this 20th and will end on september 11. Is this true or a scam thing? I am looking at the internet but i havent found one incident like this as a scam so i am really confused right now. I hope you can help me with this problem of mine. Thank you!

I have unfortunately been a victim of this from the same exact details. I had a Skype interview with the apparent employers for Hotel Istron Bay, Crete and was told that I got the job as a bartender for the summer and was filled with empty promises about if I do well this summer I will be offered another contract for next summer, all rubbish. I paid the fee of 280E for my work permit and never received it. So I decided to research into it more & found the correct email for the hotel on their website, I emailed them and asked where my flight tickets and work permit were as I was due to work there on 21st April; I was sent this:


Dear ladies and gentlemen,

We have noted that there are job search entries for the hotel Istron Bay. We believe that we have both, fallen victim online scams because the hotel is not requesting staff for cooperation this season. Thank you for understanding and every success in seeking employment.

Panagiotis Delvenakiotis
Managing Director
Istron Bay Hotel


I am furious that I have fallen for this scam.

Exactly the same problem here. I'm an expat studying languages in Greece, and I received the very same job offer by email (flooded with orthographic and grammatical mistakes) from someone called 'Maria Vasilis', and then I had a Skype job interview with a user registered as "Hotel Istron Bay Crete". At the beginning of the interview (with a guy with a strange eastern accent who was not this 'Maria Vasilis' lady) they offered me wonders, they say the job is secure and I only had to wire them the money so they can process my papers, but when I told them that I am already in Greece and I already got such papers, I couldn't help but noticing that he didn't like what I said to him. Then I asked him for their phone number in Greece so I can call them directly, and then he said that he will call me right back with the number through Skype 'in a few minutes'. Next thing after I hung up, he blocked me on Skype!

Then I decided to look for the Istron Bay Hotel phone number in the yellow pages and I called them directly and asked them about this strange job interview. The lady on the phone kindly explained me that there had been someone misrepresenting them with this exact scam, and several people had been reported to be affected by it. She explained me that they don't need any help during the coming season and she suggested me that a real job offer WILL NEVER ASK YOU FOR MONEY for processing nor anything else. So be careful with this, now we know for sure IT IS A SCAM!