Three crewing companies have warned seafarers about scammers in October 2026. The scammers pretend to work for these companies and offer jobs. Then they ask for money, often for a medical examination.
The warnings came from Crewplanet, ROMOR Crewing Agency and MARPRO Group. All three posted them on LinkedIn between 5 and 15 October. The tricks they describe are very similar.
What the companies said
Crewplanet, a crewing agency in Riga, Latvia, wrote on 5 October. It said scammers offer jobs in its name and ask people to do a "remote medical examination". A remote medical is an exam done online or by phone, not in person with a doctor.
Crewplanet said its staff will never ask you to pay to be hired. They will never ask you to do a remote medical. It said it contacts seafarers only from +371 (Latvian) phone numbers and from email addresses ending in @crewplanet.eu. You can check a contact by writing to request@crewplanet.eu. Read the Crewplanet post.
ROMOR Crewing Agency was named in a warning posted on 8 October by Patryk Zuzanski. He wrote that a person using the WhatsApp number +48 534 808 161 offers jobs in ROMOR's name. The person calls herself "Ksenia", sends fake documents and uses the ROMOR logo.
According to the post, the person tells seafarers to pay a "Dr. Ivan Michurin" on Telegram for a new medical certificate. ROMOR asks seafarers to check offers only through the contacts on its official website, romor.pl. Read the ROMOR warning.
MARPRO Group wrote on 15 October that fraudsters are using its name to send fake job offers to maritime workers. It said you should check every job message through official channels. Never send money or important documents before the company confirms the offer. Read the MARPRO post.
Why the medical trick works
Every seafarer needs a valid medical certificate to work on board. So a request for a new medical can sound normal. That is why scammers use it.
The ITF, the International Transport Workers' Federation, explains this kind of scam on its ShipBeSure website. It says scammers give the payment different names. It may be an agency fee or a registration fee. It may also be a payment for a medical, a visa or a passport. The request usually comes after you send your passport and other documents, and just before the "job offer".
The ITF also reminds seafarers about the MLC, the Maritime Labour Convention. Under the MLC, nobody may ask you for advance payment for work on ships.
What to do if you get an offer
Do not pay any fee to get a job. This includes money for a medical, a visa, a "processing fee" or flight tickets.
Be careful with a job offer you did not ask for, especially on WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber or Facebook.
Find the company's website yourself. Contact the company through the phone number or email shown there, not the one in the message.
Check that the email address really belongs to the company. Scammers use addresses and websites that look almost the same.
Do not send copies of your passport, certificates or seaman's book until you are sure the offer is real.
Be careful if someone asks you to do a medical online or by phone. Crewplanet says its staff never ask for this.
Report a scam to the ITF at jobscam@itf.org.uk. You can also check its list of scam alerts.
Read more on Crewboard:
Cover photo: A man holds a smartphone in front of a laptop. Illustrative photo. Photo: Alejandro Escamilla/Unsplash via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (cropped).
Sources: Crewplanet on LinkedIn: warning about scammers impersonating Crewplanet (5 Oct 2026), Patryk Zuzanski on LinkedIn: scam alert about fake ROMOR Crewing Agency offers (8 Oct 2026), MARPRO Group on LinkedIn: beware of recruitment scams (15 Oct 2026), ITF ShipBeSure: Recruitment scams, ITF ShipBeSure: Scam alerts.
