Fake Foreign Job Offers Targeting Nepalis: How to Check Before You Pay

The government-set service charge cap for Gulf destinations is NPR 10,000 plus actual costs such as medical, insurance and ticket. European destinations run slightly higher, around NPR 15,000 to 20,000 plus costs.

If someone is asking you for NPR 1 lakh, 3 lakh or 5 lakh upfront, that is the scam explained in a single sentence. No further investigation needed.

Yet every year, thousands of Nepali families lose their savings to exactly this. The Department of Foreign Employment estimates hundreds of millions of rupees are lost annually to fraudulent recruitment, with most victims being first-time migrants from rural districts.

The good news: virtually every known scam follows one of a small number of recognisable patterns. Learn them once and you will not be caught.

The 3 Minute Check That Costs Nothing

This is the single most effective fraud-prevention habit available to any Nepali worker.

Never pay any amount to any agency before you have independently verified their DoFE licence on dofe.gov.np. It takes 3 minutes and costs nothing.

Every licensed agency displays its DoFE licence number on its letterhead, business cards, website and contracts. Ask to see it, then cross-check it on the official portal yourself. Do not use a link the agent gives you, type the address in directly.

Two critical points many people miss. First, if the number they give does not match the name and address you were dealing with, treat that as a scam even if the licence itself is real. Scammers commonly borrow genuine licence numbers. Second, cross-check the physical office address against the DoFE portal record, and actually visit it.

Check the Job Itself, Not Just the Agency

A licensed agency can still advertise a fake vacancy, so verify the job separately.

Every legitimate vacancy must have pre-approval from the Government of Nepal. Visit the Foreign Job Search Portal and enter the LT Number, the lot number printed on the advertisement.

If the vacancy does not appear, or if the salary or company name do not match what you were told, that is a red flag. You can also ask directly for the DoFE pre-approval number and look it up in the portal's public registry of approved vacancies.

A fabricated demand letter is one of the most common tools in this fraud. Checking the LT number catches it in under a minute.

The 10 Warning Signs

Why the Visit Visa Trick Is So Dangerous

This deserves its own explanation, because people underestimate it.

When an agent says "just go on a tourist or visit visa, the company will convert it once you arrive," here is what actually happens. Upon arrival you cannot work legally. Your employer, who may turn out to be an entirely different person from the one described, can confiscate your passport because you have no legal residency.

At that point you are effectively trafficked into forced labour or debt bondage, and the only way out is emergency embassy intervention.

The position may sound genuine. The employer name may even be verifiable. That does not make the arrangement legal or safe.

What DoFE Requires, and Why Skipping It Matters

Under the Foreign Employment Act 2007, Nepali workers may only work abroad through government-approved destination countries and licensed recruitment agencies.

Mandatory requirements include labour approval before departure, mandatory training, insurance, social security, health checks, and departure through Nepal's designated international airports.

Being told by an agent that you do not need one of these steps is the single biggest red flag that you are dealing with an illegal recruitment arrangement.

DoFE has warned that anyone facilitating illegal foreign employment, or promoting it through unauthorised social media advertisements, will be monitored, investigated and prosecuted.

Your Step-by-Step Verification Process

1. Check the agency licence on dofe.gov.np, typing the address directly rather than clicking an agent's link.
2. Confirm the licence details match the agency name and office address you're actually dealing with.
3. Visit the physical office and cross-check it against the portal record.
4. Verify the vacancy using the LT number on the Foreign Job Search Portal.
5. Compare the quoted fee against the NPR 10,000 Gulf cap or NPR 15,000 to 20,000 Europe range, plus actual costs.
6. Compare quotes between agencies. If one quotes NPR 5 lakh and another quotes NPR 8 lakh for the same role, something is wrong with both.
7. Pay only through banking channels, never cash, and only after receiving official labour approval.
8. Demand a stamped receipt for every payment without exception.

If You've Already Paid

Do not assume it's hopeless. Nepal has specialised bodies for exactly this.

Document everything first: receipts, WhatsApp screenshots, names and phone numbers, photos of the office.

File at DoFE's complaint desk with a formal written complaint, or Nibedan, describing the fraud. DoFE calls both parties for a hearing. If the agency is guilty, DoFE orders a refund and may suspend or cancel their licence. Resolution typically takes 1 to 3 months.

For amounts above NPR 30 lakh, or to appeal a DoFE decision, the Foreign Employment Tribunal is the next step. It can order compensation and jail time for agents.

If the agent has disappeared or used fake documents, file an FIR at the District Police Office for criminal prosecution under the Fraud Prevention Act.

If the scam happened via social media or digital payment, file with the Cyber Bureau.

One honest warning: if you paid in cash, proving the transaction is very difficult. This is precisely why bank transfers and receipts matter so much before, not after.

Before You Pay Anyone

• Verified the agency licence directly on dofe.gov.np
• Confirmed the licence name and address match who you're dealing with
• Visited the registered physical office in person
• Checked the LT number on the Foreign Job Search Portal
• Confirmed salary and company name match the portal record
• Compared the fee against the legal cap
• Obtained labour approval before transferring any money
• Insisted on bank transfer and a stamped receipt
• Confirmed you'll depart from a Nepali international airport

The Habit Worth Building

Nepal sends over 500,000 workers abroad annually, mostly to the Gulf, Malaysia, Japan and Korea. The system built to protect them, pre-approval, biometric enrolment, labour permits, exists precisely because exploitation has been so common.

Every one of those steps maps to a specific protection. Pre-approval of vacancies ensures you have a real, verified job before you pay anything. Biometric enrolment links your identity permanently to your migration record, preventing passport fraud.

The verification takes minutes. The savings you protect took years to build.