Published: 20 Jan 2015
The Maritime Union of Australia and the International Transport Workers’ Federation have been made aware of a scam targeting people with promises of cruise ship jobs and asking for money to secure these jobs.
The potential victims as asked for money upwards of US$300 to secure a non-existent Australian Maritime Security Identification Card (AMSIC), or for work permits.
This is a scam, as neither of these items are required to work aboard cruise ships that call into Australia. There is no such document as an AMSIC, however there is an MSIC, which is issued by the Office of Transport Security.
Only Australians, permanent residents and those on a visa qualified to work in Australia have to apply for MSIC cards to comply with port security. These are not issued by the Maritime Union of Australia, nor the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).
The MUA is aware some of the scammers have fraudulently appropriated the union’s logo in order to add legitimacy to the scam and the documents which targets are urged to fill in look official.
|
| An example of some of the documents scammers are using with the MUA's logo |
People should remain vigilant and skeptical of people who require money to be transferred by wire services particularly to countries in West Africa. The majority of targets have been asked to wire money to the Australian Maritime Union office in Guinea.
The MUA only has offices within Australia. If you think you have been scammed please refer to your local law enforcement. For more information on MSIC cards and how to obtain them, please contact the Office of Transport Security: +61 2 6274 7111 between 8.00am and 5.30pm AEST Monday to Friday, or via email.
