Hundreds of Malaysians applied to work as as flight attendants with Hong Kong's flag carrier Cathay Pacific, only to discover they were duped by a bogus recruitment agency.

Some 800 job seekers earlier this month turned up at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur for interviews organised by the agency, which hired Malaysian ex-Cathay staff members to conduct interviews and help out.

But suspicions were raised when about 100 shortlisted candidates were asked to fork over RM5,500 for registration and training, The Star daily newspaper reported.

"The agency had lured the applicants by promising a basic pay of US$3,000 a month," Michael Chong, a consumer activist with MCA, was quoted as saying by the paper.

"I found the offer too good to be true, and on checking with the airline, it denied conducting the recruitment."

Reports lodged

Chong said some of the short-listed candidates called him to verify the authenticity of the interview, after they were told to pay fees to secure the job.

Some of the interviewers also lodged police reports after they were told to collect RM500 from each candidate, Chong reportedly said, adding that some applicants had paid the fee.

Cathay Pacific Airways country manager, Angela Liew, was quoted as saying the airline was not carrying out a recruitment exercise in Malaysia.

"We have not carried out such a drive for the past 10 years, and we don't intend to do so in the near future," Liew told the paper.