FIVE people have been detained, another put on bail and a seventh still being hunted in job scams in which the gang claimed to be recruiting workers for well-known local firms, police said yesterday.

Job openings allegedly offered by Shanghai Disneyland, Happy Valley, the city’s airports and the Metro were posted on popular classified websites, according to police in Songjiang District.

Job applicants were told to register their personal information at six “interview centers” in Songjiang, mostly near Metro stations, and then paid 170 to 700 yuan (US$25 to US$105) to the gang for physical checks, transport and other unspecified purposes, police said.

All job applicants were taken to get physical checks at a private hospital.

After going through the process, the job applicants were then turned down and the money they had paid was never returned, police said.

Job scams entrapping job seekers on classified websites have been on the rise in recent years across China.

Recently in Shanghai, police in Putuo and Jinshan districts solved two similar scams.

In Putuo District, seven suspects have been arrested for allegedly defrauding at least 14 people over 100,000 yuan in job scams.

The gang posted job openings with attractive salaries in the name of a hotel management company on popular classified websites in China to draw job applicants.

Police began to receive complaints last April and one of the victims, a man surnamed Xu, said he had lost 3,000 yuan to the gang. “The contract they signed with me seemed to be really official, and also the company’s office was located in a business park.”

In suburban Shanghai, three suspects were caught in a fraud against job seekers at the end of last month in which they allegedly profited about 40,000 yuan.