Cameroonians Scammed by Promises of Fake Jobs in Singapore

 Promised jobs with high salaries in Singapore, several Cameroonians handed over their savings to recruitment agents—only to find themselves jobless, stranded, and at risk of overstaying in a foreign land. Their experiences expose the human cost of transnational employment scams, for which there is little to no redress for victims. 

Earlier this year, HOME encountered several Cameroonians who were scammed into paying huge sums of money to agents, equivalent to several months or even a year’s worth of wages, after being promised jobs paying salaries in Singapore .

However, there were no jobs waiting for them. Instead, these Cameroonians arrived in Singapore only to find that they had to fend for themselves as agents told them to be patient for work, eventually becoming unresponsive. Stranded in an unfamiliar country,  they ended up having to pay for their own lodging, food, and day-to-day needs—expenses that quickly drained their limited resources. They also faced the legal risks of overstaying their visas in Singapore, and struggled to find a way to pay for their journey out of the country. The longer they remained in Singapore, the greater the risks they faced.

A few of these Cameroonians eventually approached HOME for advice. HOME provided them with information on Singapore's work permit laws and regulations and advised them to return home, as it was evident that the job opportunities promised by their agents did not exist.

The Job Scam: How It Worked

The following accounts of Joseph, Jean, Madeleine, and Sandra reveal the common experiences of these Cameroonians, beginning from their job searches in Cameroon. To protect their identities, names have been changed. For context, 1,000 FCFA [1] is approximately 2.25 Singapore dollars.

Agents lured victims in with promises of quick processing time, guaranteed job offers, and high salaries in a safe and stable country. They claimed to provide a work visa, job placement, and free lodging for a month. The job opportunities promised were usually in sectors like construction, food & beverage (F&B), and hospitality. 
However, the costs were steep. Victims were asked to pay between 1.2 million FCFA (approximately S$2,700) and 3.4 million FCFA (approximately S$7,650) for costs such as “visa processing” and their air tickets.

An example of a job ad circulating on Facebook calling for Cameroonians to work in Singapore.

Deceptive Tactics and False Promises

Joseph wanted to work abroad to secure a better future for himself and his family of three. Initially, he planned to go to the United States for work but the process was slow and showed little progress. His agent then suggested Singapore, claiming that the processing would take only one week and that he could earn a monthly salary of S$2,000 to S$3,000 (approximately 890,000 to 1.33 million FCFA). Compared to the salary he was receiving at the time (80,000 FCFA), this seemed like a golden opportunity. To fund this trip, Joseph emptied his life savings, sold his possessions—including his car—and took on debts.
The agencies in Cameroon operated from physical offices and presented themselves as legitimate businesses. They also employed sophisticated strategies to build trust, such as showing them photographs of Cameroonians who have purportedly secured jobs in Singapore. None of the victims initially suspected they were being scammed, with the victims describing the agents as being very helpful and responsive to their concerns while they were still in Cameroon. 

Jean shared that he did not agree to a job offered by the agency right away. In fact, he made several trips to the agency before deciding he could trust them. In one of those occasions, Jean was shown pictures of Cameroonians whom the agency had allegedly sent to Singapore before and they claimed were currently earning around S$3,500 (approximately 1.56 million FCFA). He also felt assured because the agent claimed that he was a religious man. 

In another instance, Madeleine was reassured when she received a copy of a “work permit” with the logos of Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA). However, she did not know then that this “permit” was fake.

Madeline’s fake work permit.

When the date of travel approached, red flags began to appear. The victims were issued a 30-day tourist visa for Singapore instead of a work visa. When they were on their way to Singapore, they were also given return tickets. Agents reassured the victims that the finalisation of the work visa and contract would be done once they are in Singapore. 

Once in Singapore, the true nature of the situation revealed itself as the victims were left to fend for themselves. No one picked them up from the airport as promised. Agents became strangely unresponsive. Lodging in hostels were incomplete and inconsistent — they did not fulfill the full one month promised; reservations were sent at the very last minute; locations were constantly changing. Crucially, the jobs  the victims were promised never materialised. 

There were no jobs. Victims were told that they would be contacted by the partners of the agency or by the employers in Singapore after arrival, but no one ever reached out. When asked, agents gave vague replies like ““we are trying our best to find you a solution” on message, while encouraging victims to extend their stay.

What was unknown to the victims is that citizens of African countries, including Cameroon, are currently unable to obtain work permits in low-wage sectors in Singapore. That’s because no African country is on the list of eligible “source countries” where migrant workers can get work permits for sectors, such as construction, manufacturing, and services. 

Hoping that job opportunities will eventually materialise, some individuals missed their return flights, putting them at risk of overstaying, detention, deportation, and exploitation. 

Madeleine, Jean, and Joseph wanted to return to Cameroon when they realised that there was no job prospect in Singapore. Madeleine, who had missed her return flight, contacted her agency to pay the penalties for adjusting her return flight date, but the agent was unresponsive and provided no assistance. Similarly, Jean tried to resolve his situation by contacting the airlines directly after his return flight expired. However, the airlines informed him that only the original booker—the agency—could make changes to the ticket, leaving him with no recourse. Meanwhile, Joseph couldn’t bring himself to ask his family for more money to pay for his flight penalties. 

Sandra became aware of the potential consequences and decided to cut her losses early. After failing to find legitimate work in Singapore, Sandra decided to return to Cameroon on her return flight. She was afraid of the repercussions of being an undocumented and illegal overstayer, which would put her at a greater risk of being exploited and trafficked. 

Madeleine faced an increasingly desperate situation: she had no return flight home, only S$40 in cash, and no guaranteed accommodations. To make matters worse, her tourist visa was expiring within days. Her efforts to secure emergency shelter were unsuccessful due to her visa status as a tourist. She filed a report with the Singapore Police Force (SPF), but they were unable to investigate further, as the incident originated in Cameroon and was beyond their jurisdiction. Similar replies were received by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). The Immigration Checkpoint Authorities (ICA) advised her to apply for a visa extension to allow more time to seek assistance after she declared her circumstances. However, the application was ultimately rejected a few days later. With no Cameroonian embassy in Singapore and the nearest one in China unreachable, she attempted to seek assistance through the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). But that failed because the MFA could not offer any assistance to non-Singaporeans.

Eventually, Madeleine was able to return home legally –- on the day of her visa expiry — solely through the miraculous goodwill of strangers she happened to meet by chance.

Madeleine’s police report

Falling outside of legislated protections

Despite being victims, the Cameroonians were unable to access any support through official channels. In Singapore, they were informed that they were unable to receive redress as the actors who deceived them were located outside of Singapore. 

They grappled with intense stress, hopelessness, and desperation — from the pressure to provide for their families, to the challenge of recovering their losses, and a deep sense of shame and failure for falling victim to a scam. At the same time, they were unfamiliar with local context, had limited English proficiency (most Cameroonians HOME encountered spoke primarily French), and lacked any support systems. These vulnerabilities left them exposed to heightened risks of future exploitation, including potentially being victims of trafficking and forced labour. For example, one of the victims, while looking for other job opportunities elsewhere, was offered illegal work  in the sex industry, which she eventually declined. 

All the Cameroonians who spoke to HOME said that they stayed on in Singapore in the hope of finding work, despite realizing that nothing was likely to come through; by potentially  overstaying, they were at risk of arrest and detention. In Singapore, male overstayers run the risk of corporal punishment in the form of caning, if they are caught. The longer the length of overstaying, the more severe the penalties. 

Despite being victims of deception, these Cameroonians, who were exposed to further exploitation, were deemed potential criminals and offenders as the current system had little regard for the circumstances that led to their plight. 

What systems must be in place to prevent future harms?

The following measures can be undertaken to prevent future harm, address emerging risks, and safeguard the rights and well-being of scam victims:

1. Stronger cross-border protections: With victims of job scams having made reports to the MOM and SPF, Singapore’s authorities are aware that victims from Cameroon — among other countries — are present in Singapore, with the possibility of more arriving.
   It is thus essential to strengthen cross-border cooperation between the Singapore and Cameroonian governments to raise awareness of these scams, prevent others from falling prey, and reduce the risk of exploitation and trafficking. The methods employed by actors behind these scams must be carefully examined by both governments to effectively intercept and protect victims at the source.
   
   

2. Stronger accountability from social media platforms: Further, many of the agents promoted themselves through social media platforms, which is how the victims first came into contact with them. Social media companies must take greater responsibility in monitoring and removing content that seeks to exploit individuals through false promises of overseas employment. Given their vast reach and influence, these platforms have a duty to ensure they do not serve as channels for unscrupulous actors to prey on vulnerable people. Governments should work closely with social media platforms to identify and weed out such content. 
   
   

3. Guarantee against victim persecution: Domestic legislation should also reflect, at a minimum, a guarantee that victims are not prosecuted (in the event that they inadvertently commit legal infractions as a result of their victimhood) and to connect them to appropriate assistance for them to return home. 

Conclusion

In today’s globalised, digital world, such victims will continue to arrive in Singapore. In June 2025, HOME encountered another worker, this time from Nepal, who had paid the equivalent of SGD6000 in recruitment fees, who arrived in Singapore on a social visit pass. He was promised a job by recruiters in Nepal, but when he arrived, there was no work. He spent his remaining time in Singapore desperately trying to find work, which was difficult due to source country restrictions for Nepalese. 

As of now, the protection of victims like these Cameroonians falls upon two factors — luck and the goodwill of individual civilians to extend help. 

With the exception of Jean, the other three, Madeleine, Joseph, and Sandra, returned to Cameroon with help from kind individuals. While they are safely reunited with their families, justice has not yet — and may never be — served. Pursuing their case requires financial resources that they do not have, and it remains an uphill battle. Meanwhile, perpetrators continue to live in freedom on the money they’ve siphoned from their victims. 

Jean feels angry and pained by the scam, especially knowing that the perpetrators continue to operate. He believes Singapore and Cameroon immigration authorities should take action, particularly in helping to identify Cameroonians who might have unknowingly fallen victim to similar scams and may not know better. He chose to remain in Southeast Asia. For him, going home is worse than the risks  he has to face remaining outside. He has met almost 20 other Cameroonians who have fallen into similar scams who moved on to neighbouring countries from Singapore, including those who have stayed on beyond their tourist visas in attempts to recover their losses.

[1] This is the currency used in Cameroon.