Oil Rig Engineering Courses

When we first started we did not know anything, so we believed everything anyone told us. The person was from Nigeria and we paid him R500 (which we could not afford, BUT since my husband was going to be earning good money in the future, we thought it would be a good investment). The money was to pay for an engineering course to learn how to do work on an oil rig. 

My husband, and others, did the course. After it was finished, they did not get their certificates, which was the first indication something here was not right. Everyone was told to get a certificate from the doctor for health and to get their passports, etc. Everyone had already paid the money, successfully completed the course and was excited about having a good paying job on an oil rig.

Everyone was told they would be flying the next week. My husband resigned from his work, so did the others. They were told they would be going to Saudi Arabia. As the day to depart got closer we tried to get in touch with the man in charge, but when we phoned the guy we could not get  in touch with him. 

Everyone that paid him money went to his office, he was not there. He had taken our money and the money of others and disappeared. So here were a lot of people that had quit their jobs, were ready to go to work, but there was no where to go.

It took my husband a year to get another job, not even with a good salary, but he must work and we are still trying to recover from that year he did not work. Then we paid another R250 for a book with names that did not even exist. That is why it is difficult for us just to believe what we hear. We cannot afford to lose anything again. Like I said before we are waiting for a company for 3 years now.

We learned a lot as we went, the one company told us that if someone tells you to pay for visas, etc. we must know they are not for real, because the overseas companies pay everything. Real companies can usually only put 1 to 3 persons on a rig, not 100 or more! So to tell you the truth we don't know anymore.

It is sad to say, but it looks like there are a lot of people making money from people who are trying to get to the rigs, but they never get there and instead of making a lot of money with a good oil rig job, they loose a lot of money in the process. A lot of that is happening in South Africa at the moment. There are always adds in the paper, but let me tell you it is not as easy as it looks.

The way we feel at the moment is to rather pay someone a fee after my husband is working on the rigs and not before. That is the only way we would really know that he will get there. I know it is not everyone that is stealing money from people, (that is what it is at the end, to enrich themselves and feeling nothing for people with families), but how do you tell the difference between the real deal and the fake? 

Thank you,
Cornelia J
Gauteng, SOUTH AFRICA

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