From Montgomery Advertiser
MONTGOMERY, ALA — Alabama Attorney General Troy King issued a warning this week to Alabama residents, advising them to be on the lookout for a scam offering to help job seekers land a job with Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama — for a price.
According to King, people claiming to have an inside track on Hyundai jobs have offered potential applicants help getting hired at the automotive plant in exchange for payment.
No payment is required to apply for Hyundai jobs.
“If someone offers to help you get a job at Hyundai for a fee, they are not operating on behalf of Hyundai and are simply stealing your money,” King said.
King called the scam “despicable.” He said people who fall prey to it are not just losing their money, they are also losing out on the chance for a job.
“When great opportunities come along, so do those opportunists,” he said.
King’s office issued the warning after Hyundai officials alerted them of a possible scam. Kerry Christopher, Hyundai’s spokesman in Montgomery, Ala., said the information was based on a phone call the company received from someone in the community. He urged residents with information or complaints about the scam to contact his office.
Hyundai’s general counsel, Richard Neal, said the company “does not, has not, nor will it ever solicit money in connection with any application for employment.”
Neal said Hyundai is “outraged that scurrilous individuals are trying to take advantage of people who are just seeking good jobs and a way to better their lives. The attorney general has our full cooperation and support to end this practice immediately and bring the responsible persons to justice.”
Phyllis Wesley, a spokeswoman for Alabama Industrial Development Training (AIDT), the state agency that handles recruitment and training for Hyundai and many other manufacturers recruited into Alabama, said she was not aware of any complaints about the scam made directly to AIDT.
Carolyn Walker, manager of the Alabama Career Center Employment Service in Montgomery, where Hyundai applications are available, said she, also, had not received word of any complaints or concerns registered by job seekers there.
Walker said she has seen a steady stream of people coming in to apply for Hyundai jobs, and “we’re happy to give them an application.”
Hyundai currently employs about 1,200 people in the Montgomery facility and expects to ramp up to 2,000 by the time the plant reaches full capacity.
Copyright 2004 Montgomery Advertiser, Ala. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. All Rights Reserved.
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