Several cases of scams related to healthcare qualifications have prompted the police in Zimbabwe to launch an investigation. The scams take advantage of the high demand for basic healthcare qualifications in the country, which are seen as a gateway to job opportunities overseas.

One such victim sold family land to pay for a course that promised a sponsorship and a ticket to the UK, but turned out to be a fraud. Nurse aide courses have become highly sought after in Zimbabwe due to the economic crisis and the shortage of healthcare workers in countries like Britain. Con artists have capitalized on this demand, tricking people into paying for fake courses or certificates and offering false promises of jobs abroad. The scams have been reported mainly in Harare and Bulawayo. The popularity of nurse aide courses has grown, expanding its pool of students from those with few qualifications to lawyers, teachers, and businesspeople seeking to escape economic challenges in Zimbabwe.

The number of students in some courses has quadrupled over the years. The demand for nurse aid qualifications spiked in 2022 when Britain created a new visa route to address the staffing shortages in the care sector. More than 21,000 health and care worker visas were granted to Zimbabweans in the year leading up to September 2023. Some professional nurses have also enrolled in nurse aide courses to bypass government restrictions on migrating.

The government, concerned about a medical brain drain, has withheld documents needed for nurses to work abroad, leading them to seek alternative options. Nurse aide courses have traditionally been offered by organizations like the Red Cross, but smaller institutes have emerged to meet the increasing demand, charging fees ranging from $100 to $400. One such institute, Platinum Home Healthcare Services, became the source of Sinoya’s scam.