Articles · for crewing agencies · Batumi
Scams in your agency’s name: how to protect it
A seafarer gets a message “from your company”: a great vacancy, just pay for processing, a visa or a ticket. The seafarer loses money and you lose reputation. You cannot stop scammers writing, but you can make it possible to check any offer in a minute.
What it usually looks like
- A website or page with a similar address and your logo.
- Emails from a look-alike domain or a free mailbox with your company name.
- Telegram channels and social accounts with your name and “urgent” vacancies.
- Requests to pay for processing, a visa, a medical or tickets “before the contract is signed”.
What to put on your website
- A “How to verify our vacancy” page: official email addresses, phones, website and channels — and nothing else.
- In large print: whether you charge seafarers for placement. MLC 2006 prohibits recruitment services from charging seafarers such fees — if you do not, say so plainly.
- Current vacancies on your own site: if a vacancy is not there, that is a warning sign.
- A form or address for reporting fakes.
Email, domain and channels
- Email only on the company domain, with SPF, DKIM and a strict DMARC policy — spoofing your address becomes much harder.
- Check whether look-alike domains are taken; register the most obvious ones yourself.
- One official Telegram channel and one Facebook page, linked from your website.
- Search your company name in Google and Telegram monthly — find fakes before seafarers do.
What I do
I build a vacancy-check page in three languages, set up email and DMARC, and tidy up official channels. I am a lawyer and a seaman by training, so I understand both the seafarer’s side and the company’s. Legal steps are for your lawyer.
Sources: ILO: Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 · DMARC.org
FAQ
Questions and answers
Can scammers be stopped completely?
No — but seafarers can be helped to spot fakes quickly, and emails spoofing your address can be blocked.
What if a fake already exists?
Warn seafarers on your site and official channels, report it to the platform or host, keep evidence and talk to a lawyer.
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