FOR TWO long years she had been desperately searching for any job that would kick-start her career.

So when Marina Haisman was told that hunt was over after getting a job at a Southampton hotel, she was over the moon and could not wait to get stuck in.

But her delight quickly turned to devastation when she found herself £60 out of pocket and without a job when she was told she had been a victim of a cruel online scam, believed to have originated in Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.

The 18-year-old had found the job advertisement for the Highfield Hotel in Portswood online but when she turned up for what she had been told was her first day of training, she discovered it had all been an elaborate con.

This is the second time the hotel has had to break the news to job hopefuls that there are no jobs and so far investigations by Hampshire Police have led them to Mauritius.

Now Marina, the police and the hotel are warning all job hunters to be careful when applying for jobs and not to send any money or personal details unless absolutely certain the job is real.

Marina, from Holbury, had been looking for a job since leaving school in 2010, so when she saw the advertisement for hotel staff vacancies at the Highfield House Hotel, she immediately applied.

Days later she was thrilled to get a telephone interview, during which she was asked all the normal questions and then she received an email telling her that her application had been successful.

The email stated that she would have two days of induction and training on June 12 and 13 at the hotel and that she must email over details of her uniform size and a £60 Ukash voucher for her CRB fees by June 8.

She sent over the details and paid for the voucher but when she turned up for training at the hotel, she was told that there had never been any job.

Marina, who works voluntarily at the Faith, Hope and Charity shop in Hythe, said: “I was so relieved when I thought I had finally found a job, so it was really upsetting to find out it had all been a lie.

“I think it is cruel that these scammers are targeting people who are trying hard to find a job and giving them false hope. It’s not easy and this just makes it harder.

“I am very careful now when I’m applying for any jobs and I would warn others to watch out for these scams.”

Katie Garland, manager at Highfield House Hotel, told the Daily Echo that they contacted the police back in April when another job seeker had fallen victim to the scam.

She said: “It is very clever because they are only asking for relatively small amounts of money, whereas if they were asking for more, people might start to ask more questions before handing over the money.

“We would never ask potential employees to part with any money and I am not aware of any institution that would.”

Hampshire Police confirmed that they were investigating reports of the scam and so far their enquiries have led them to believe that it originates from Mauritius.