Grand Burstin Hotel Employment Scam

I was riding in a taxi with a driver I use regularly, and he asked me to help him. He'd been offered a 'job' working for the Grand Burstin Hotel as a driver. There really is a Grand Burstin Hotel in the UK, and, according to its website, it is a seaside hotel with rooms including meals starting at just £35 for a single (which is cheap enough that I'd consider staying there if I happened to be in Folkestone). The offer seemed to be on official hotel letterhead with the stamp and signature of a manager.

The offer letter said they would help him get a visa and work permit, and would pay a salary of £3,700 plus room and board. I figured, 'OK. A UK hotel wants to get an Indian driver for £3,700 plus free room and board, and that's a lot less than they'd have to pay a British driver.' So I told him I thought it was legitimate. Then he pointed out that the salary was monthly. So £44,400 plus room and board for a driver. Not b*&%£ likely.

They sent him a picture of what looked like a real UK work permit with his name and photograph (at least to someone who's never seen a real UK work permit), and a picture of a letter saying that the work permit was being held by Inland Revenue and he had to pay £650 to get it released. And, again, the photo of the letter from the Inland Revenue looked like it was on official Inland Revenue letterhead.

Only, of course, the work permit is NOT from UK immigration and the letter demanding £650 is NOT from Inland Revenue.

Further checking showed that there are more than 60,000 ads about 'Jobs available at the Grand Burstin Hotel' posted on the Internet, many posted on bulletin boards that are not intended for employment postings, and none of which has the slightest connection with the real Grand Burstin Hotel.