Gardai and the Health and Safety Authority are investigating a Brazilian fraudster who is providing forged employment documents in the name of Irish firms.
The probe comes as the Irish Mail on Sunday provided details of the scam and the identity of the mastermind behind it to the authorities this week.
For a fee of €40 apiece, the forger is providing fake job certs, bogus manual handling certificates and employment confirmation letters.
The ruse, which is similar in nature to previous abuses of the construction industry’s Safe Pass scheme, is being widely advertised on WhatsApp groups in the Brazilian community in Ireland.
The employment confirmation letters on offer allow illegal immigrants using false identities to apply for a PPS number under the pretext of having been offered a job.
The fake manual handling certs, meanwhile, allow illegal workers who do not speak English to bypass health and safety training required in many industries from construction to meat plants and the home care sector.
At €40 each, the fake manual handling certs are approximately the same price as many certified courses which are available for between €30 and €50.
