Work permit visa for Scotland

TL;DR

It looks like this is not a legitimate job offer (in other words this is a scam to take your money). Do not send any money. No legitimate company will ever ask you to do this.

In case of a visitor visa, you are never required to pay any money (apart from the visa fee) and are only required to submit bank statements and income tax returns with your application.

Background

This is a well known modus operandi of scammers wherein they offer dream jobs. Such jobs promise very good salary, excellent work conditions, paid holidays, free family travel etc. The "interview" is a very basic HR exercise (nothing technical is asked) and there is a high chance all of it is done via email or an online form. After this you will receive an email (or maybe even a phone call) informing you of your selection. They will also mail you a job offer letter with company logo and some sign and it all looks OK.

The catch is that they will then ask you to provide your personal details for "visa processing" and will ask you to get the work permit/visa through an agency (in your country or abroad) they recommend. The agency is a sham designed to extract maximum amount of money from you. A representative of the "agency" (aka conman) will contact you and ask you to pay for visa processing and assure you that all this will be refunded once you join the company. You can read about such scams in relation to New Zealand, Canada and Dubai. The countries may be different but the basics remain the same.

If you pay some money, they will ask you to pay more because either your file is stuck or the visa issuing country is asking for more financial proof. You will probably pay again and again till they bleed you dry. After that you'll never hear from them.

I came across this excellent blog post about such scams. Some major points are (emphasis mine)

1. Job Offer

   While the job advertisement looks straightforward, there are a few clues it’s not a legitimate employer.

   • The biggest warning sign is the company is using a Hotmail account.
   • The monthly salary is very high for a job requiring no specific skills or certifications.

2. Acceptance email

   Within a very short time of applying for the job – 1 hour to 5 days – the prospective candidate receives a letter from the job scammer telling them they’ve been successful in their job search.

3. Contract

   The candidate is provided with a contract to sign, further giving the impression a legitimate job is being offered. Still, several warning signs are present in the contract. If you read the terms and conditions of the employment and think, “This sounds too good to be true” you can bet it is.

   • The salary is incredibly high for an unskilled or semi-skilled role and the work time is incredibly low.
   • The benefits are astonishing, the kind only seen at the executive level if at all. -The first true undeniable sign you’re dealing with a job scam is when they ask for money. “You will be required to pay for the processing of your travel and immigration documents.” It is unethical – and in many parts of the world illegal – for jobseekers to pay for any part of the hiring process.

4. Further Instructions

   Once a candidate has signed the contract, the job scam gets serious. Requests for money and identification are made. The jobseeker is assured all monies will be repaid once they’re employed.

   • The scammer is looking for an immediate response.
   • Western Union money transfers are usually immediate. The scammer is asking you to wait 4-5 days for the money to clear which also gives them time to cover their tracks.

Avoiding becoming a victim

• Look carefully at the email address of the company which sent the offer mail. If it comes from public mail services (yahoo mail, gmail, hotmail) it is a scam. Most companies will have a dedicated domain. (E.g. stackexchange.com).
• Even if it looks like the domain is legitimate do a reverse search on google to see if the comapny website is hosted on same domain. I once received a scam mail from somebody@somthingcanada.com. While searching for the company, I realized the company's actual domain name was something.ca so logically I should have received the mail from somebody@something.ca. Hence scam.
• Google for the company which sent you the offer and find out their contact details (not the one they sent you in the mail). Contact them on that phone or mail and you will know the truth. You may also google for the person who "signed" the offer letter.
• Look carefully at the telephone number given in the scam mail. Reverse search for area codes. If the company is based in Scotland, it may happen that the scammers have given you a phone number that has the ISD code of UK but the area code of London.