Fooled job seekers stuck with face tattoos

Two Indonesian job seekers have been fooled into having their faces tattooed in order to receive non-existent government jobs.

The pair had their faces permanently inked after village chief Sawiyono told them he had received a text message from a government official offering them work as Jakarta intelligence officers.

The official, who said it was a job requirement to have their faces tattooed with dragons, was later discovered to be a hoaxer — but not before Nanang, 30, and Bambang, 40, had already undergone the painful and disfiguring procedure.



The three men believe the anonymous trickster was a kind of "mystic", as they didn't feel in control of their actions when following his strange instructions. "I was half conscious when the shop owner tattooed my face, and didn't think it was a con," victim Bambang said. "I just realized it was a con on Friday night. I was shocked and I cried."

A horrified Sawiyono realised he had been tricked when double-checking the bizarre request with a legitimate government representative. "I am fully responsible for the mistake and I will do my best to help the men remove their tattoos,'' Sawiyono was quoted as saying.

Indonesian police say that the tattoo incident was the third hoax of its kind to have been pulled recently.