Back to Africa Check

Jobs at Kenya’s Quickmart supermarkets with KSh350 ‘application fee’? No, it’s a scam

A message posted on “Jobs within Nairobi”, a Facebook group page, claims 640 jobs are available in February 2022 at Quickmart supermarkets in several Kenyan cities and towns.

It says the staff will be based at 14 new branches in Nairobi, Nakuru, Mombasa, Kisumu, Eldoret, Kakamega, Nyeri, Kiambu Kisii, Machakos, Kericho, Nanyuki, Mtito-Andei and Kitale.

The positions advertised include cleaners, guards, technicians, customer care receptionists, storekeepers, distributors and marketers. Successful job applicants are promised a minimum starting salary of KSh30,000.

The application process looks suspiciously like other scams we’ve seen that try to con job seekers. But is this offer legit? We checked.

Quickmart_Scam

​​Google Form for application

The first sign that it’s a scam is that the link for the application form takes users to a Google Form, not Quickmart’s website.

The second sign is that it asks for money.

“Register with Ksh350 application fee paid to Human Resource Office.The amount is automatically refunded if you don't qualify,” the second page of the form reads.

“NOTE: ONLY APPLICANTS WHO HAVE PAID REGISTRATION FEE WILL BE CONSIDERED.”

Reputable companies don’t ask people to pay for job applications.

‘Fake jobs alerts’

We checked Quickmart’s Facebook page and Twitter account for the job advert and found that the supermarket had flagged a similar post as fake.

 

⚠️FAKE JOBS ALERT⚠️

Kindly disregard any job postings that are not shared from our official social media pages or website. Kaaeni Rada!#FreshandEasy #TukoFreshTukoEasy #PamojaNawe pic.twitter.com/VbUbfgWZhy

— Quickmart Kenya (@QuickmartKenya) February 1, 2022

 

“FAKE JOBS ALERT,” the warning reads

“Kindly disregard any job postings that are not shared from our official social media pages or website. Kaaeni Rada [Stay alert]!” 

The supermarket chain’s name has been used frequently by swindlers. Quickmart has always warned that it does not charge any job application fees.

Republish our content for free

Please complete this form to receive the HTML sharing code.

For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false

A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?

Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.

Publishers guide

Africa Check teams up with Facebook

Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.

The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.

You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.

Add new comment

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
limit: 600 characters

Want to keep reading our fact-checks?

We will never charge you for verified, reliable information. Help us keep it that way by supporting our work.

Become a newsletter subscriber

Support independent fact-checking in Africa.