Immigration Fraud Prevention

Immigration Fraud Prevention:

There have been instances in the last few months, where phishing scammers attempted to fabricate Global Vision Immigration’s (GVI) credibility resorting to identity theft (fabricated CICC member credentials) to bait potential individuals interested to immigrate.

It has been brought to GVI’s attention that some ghost agents tried to dupe candidates by showing fabricated GVI credentials. In this case, the victim doubted the authenticity of the fake agent and therefore contacted GVI Head Office immediately before making any monetary transaction.

GVI has taken appropriate actions by reporting the matter to concerned officials for further investigation and law enforcement intervention. Apart from this, we are educating individuals seeking immigration assistance about immigration fraud prevention measures.

Immigration fraud has seen an alarming rise year after year

Undoubtedly, immigration fraud is increasing in incidences year after year. GVI would like to forewarn anyone seeking immigration advice. Refer to Global Vision Immigration (GVI) Website, which is the best place to find reliable information about Our services and GVI’s office contacts (Canada & India).

In case, you receive a text message or email, remember to check the authenticity of the source being used to reach you. To summarize, you can directly contact Global Vision Immigration head office in Canada to check the legitimacy.

Don’t fall prey to Immigration scammers.

Don’t just go by popularity or word of mouth while taking Immigration advice from any company.

Do your due diligence and “Hire ONLY regulated and Licensed Consultants”

What you should remember to protect yourself from immigration scammers?

• Beware if you are not asked to sign a retainer agreement/ service contract/ contract before providing immigration service to be signed by both the “Licensed immigration consultant” and “You”.
• The agreement must mention the regulated/licensed member’s name and license id.
• For financial transactions bank account details should be in business or licensed consultant’s name.
• Take additional care if the company is an associate of the licensed member and not a direct branch of the parent company. In most cases, parent companies are not aware of agreements that are signed on their behalf by agents, showcasing agency agreement to dupe clients.
• Some companies in India (Travel Agents / Education Consultants / IELTS Coaching centers / Immigration Agents) declares themselves “authorized agents of a licensed member” (CICC / MARA / IAA / OISC). Know your rights and check the association agreement with the licensed member. Follow up with the licensed consultant. Only a licensed immigration consultant can represent your file.
• No licensed consultant will ask for money from clients in the personal names of employees.
• Clients should have basic knowledge of the different immigration documents like Visa, LMIA, Work Permit, Study Permit, etc. Not to forget that it’s easy to manipulate such documents with the help of graphic editing software.
• When in doubt, get back to the licensed consultant directly.
• Research about the company and its licensed consultants thoroughly.
• Contact the licensed member to verify the authenticity of their agent. Clients should call the overseas office number rather than emailing to validate authenticity. To dupe clients, Ghost agents can easily create duplicate email-id of the licensed member.
• Nobody can guarantee Visa to Canada. Do not pay if anyone guarantees visa success.
• Only immigration officers in Canada, Canadian embassies, high commissions and consulates have the authority to approve or deny a visa.

CICC

CICC’s mandate protects consumers of immigration services through effective regulation of immigration and citizenship consultants. The regulatory body highly promotes the benefits of using only authorized immigration representatives.

In short, CICC protects consumers by maintaining an online searchable database of all professionals it regulates. CICC reports suspected unauthorized representatives to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) or Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) for further investigation and law enforcement intervention.

You can validate GVI’s authenticity by checking the searchable database and comparing it to GVI’s About us page.

Government of Canada

As always, to protect vulnerable individuals from immigration scams the government of Canada took certain immigration fraud prevention measures.

Unquestionably, cyber-criminals are quick in copying websites and building one that looks thoroughly professional. Don’t be deceived and lured by immigration scammers, which they achieve by offering special immigration deals that are too good to be true or guarantying high- paying jobs.

How to protect yourself from Immigration Scammers?

• Refrain from entering private information, unless you see a padlock in the browser window or https:// at the beginning of the web address, that reveals that the website is secure.
• Perform a web search to see any reports of problem with the website if you doubt the legitimacy of the website.
• Ensure that you have an up-to-date browser. Browser filters are of great help to uncover fake websites.
• Look out for websites that have strangers advising immigration services without any authority and valid presence.
• Do not provide personal information to strangers. Verify who is handling the information first.
• Last but not the least, check CICC searchable database of all professionals it regulates to find out more about who can legally represent you if you wish to.

How to know if an immigration website is Fake?

• Firstly, Stay away from websites that offer astonishingly good deals to individuals who want to immigrate.
• Secondly, guarantees entry to Canada and/or a speedy application process.
• Finally, If you find the website address typed in the browser’s address bar that doesn’t match the address that you typed.

In conclusion, If you are a victim of immigration cyber scam, you immediately need to file a complaint with your nearest police station or cyber-crime cell.