Scams targeting seafarers
Fake manning agencies, recruitment-fee fraud, document phishing, fake STCW courses, copycat company websites — these scams cost seafarers thousands of dollars every month and can leave you stranded without a passport. This hub catalogues the patterns and gives you the verification steps and tools to defend yourself before signing or sending money.
Patterns + what to do
- Fake manning agencies
How fraudulent manning agencies imitate licensed agents, what they ask for, how to verify the real licence, and what to do if you have already paid.
- Recruitment fee red flags
The fees you should never pay, and the dishonest framings that make them sound legitimate.
- WhatsApp recruiter
Social-media recruitment is now a top scam channel. What to look for, how to verify, when to walk away.
- Copycat websites
Sites that imitate a real shipping or manning company. How to tell the real one from the imitation.
- Fake STCW courses
How fraudulent training providers sell certificates that won't pass a port-state inspection.
- How to verify a job
A repeatable 10-step verification process before signing or sending money.
- Documents to hold back
What to send, when, and to whom — to keep your identity documents under your control.
- Email red flags
How to read an offer email like an ITF inspector.
- Already paid
An ordered response — bank, regulator, evidence, helpline — to give yourself the best chance of recovery and to stop the scam catching the next seafarer.
- Social-media recruitment
Why Facebook / Instagram / TikTok groups are now the highest-volume scam channel.
- Fake job offer checklist
A short, repeatable checklist a seafarer can run against any offer before sending money, documents, or signing — combines the recruitment-fee, vessel-naming, licence-verification, and contract-substitution patterns into one decision tool.
- Fake visa processing
Scams that piggy-back on the genuine complexity of crew transit visas — C1/D, Schengen, UK Joining-Ship, Australian MCV, Brazil crewman — to extract 'processing fees' that never reach the consulate.
- How to check a manning agency
A step-by-step verification process for any recruiter — combining the regulator licence directory, the principal cross-check, the vessel verification, and the wage / SEA reality check.