11 October 2022, Johannesburg: It has been brought to our attention that at least two people have been impersonating Progression in a fake recruitment drive targeting people with disabilities.
One of the scammers placed an advert for a learnership opportunity on the Disabled People South Africa (DPSA) Facebook page. The advert was an exact copy of a recent Progression learnership advert taken from our social media pages, with the scammer’s first name and his mobile number provided as the contact details.
Sadly a number of users on the DPSA group saw the advert and applied for the fake learnership, each knowingly handing over a R1 000 bribe to be accepted into the learnership.
Fake recruitment contracts were also distributed to applicants via WhatsApp. Although the contract wording does NOT come from any Progression recruitment contract, our branding was used on the letterheads and a forged signature.
Progression has strict recruitment procedures in place. Learners are never asked for money at any point in the recruitment process, and they cannot access any Progression learnership via a bribe.
We always conduct face-to-face assessments, and every candidate is interviewed prior to selection. Our contracts are signed in person, not via WhatsApp, and all documents requiring a signature are signed in person by a Progression representative.
All correspondence between ourselves and our clients is conducted professionally via telephone call or email, and with our learners, via call, email, sms or WhatsApp. The Progression representative provides their full name and all contact details, not just a first name and a mobile number.
Progression adverts for learnerships are always placed on our official social media pages and occasionally, on relevant social media groups.
We would like to make all our clients and learners aware of this scam, and advise that you only deal with Progression via the channels you normally use, or directly via your Progression representative.
We would also like to reassure our clients and learners that all personal, contractual and confidential information is securely stored and has not been breached any way.
A criminal case is being opened and we will support the police in any investigation that may follow as a result of this incident.
Please direct any queries you may have to contact Tarryn Mason on tarryn@progression.co.za
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