Canada Immigration fraud: IRCC reveals guidelines, says ‘Will never contact you through…’

As the new academic year begins in Canada, the Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) advises international students and newcomers to be cautious of increasing fraud activities.

Taking to Twitter, IRCC said, Attention: #Newcomers – protect yourself from immigration fraud.

Noting that, IRCC takes many steps to protect the privacy of candidate's information, it added “We will never contact you by telephone to confirm basic personal information you have already provided on a form or to collect fees or fines and say it's to avoid deportation or face other consequences.”

Check IRCC guidelines to avoid immigration fraud:

People posing as Government of Canada staff

What happens: A person poses as a government official on the telephone. They call people and try to scare them by saying they have done something wrong (like not filing proper paperwork) and that they owe fees. They may say the person can lose their immigration status or be deported if they do not pay right away. These people may even threaten someone’s family or home.

Things to remember

• IRCC will never contact you over the telephone to collect fees or fines
• be aggressive or threaten to arrest or deport you
• threaten to harm you or a member of your family, or damage your home or propertyask for personal information over the phone (except to verify information you already gave us)
• ask for financial information over the phone
• try to rush you into paying right away
• ask you to pay fees using prepaid credit cards, Western Union, Money Gram, gift cards, or any other similar services
• send police to arrest you for unpaid fees

Fake emails

What happens: You may get an email trying to convince you to invest money or to give personal information or passwords related to your banking accounts.

What to do: Delete it. Legitimate investors don’t send bulk emails to people they do not know.

Watch out for emails from a stranger that direct you to a website that asks for personal information. Never give out personal information unless you know whom you are giving it to and that the website is secure.

If you get this kind of email, don’t click on any links or give any information about yourself. If you have any doubts about where the email came from, make sure to check the identity of the sender.

Fake computer virus

What happens: You may get a phone call or email saying that your computer has been infected with a virus. The caller or sender will offer to remove the virus from your computer. The person will try to get your computer passwords and other private information.

What to do: Never give access to your computer to someone you didn’t contact for help. You should only have your computer fixed at a professional shop or install anti-virus software bought from a trusted store.

Fake prizes

What happens: If you get a phone or text message that says you won something, but you did not enter a contest, it is probably a scam.

What to do: If you get a text message from a stranger, and it directs you to a form that asks you to enter any personal information, delete the text. Do not enter any information.

If the text tells you to text “STOP” or “NO” so you don’t get more texts, delete it. Do not reply. Scam artists do this to confirm they have a real phone number. Forward the texts to 7726 (SPAM on most keypads). This will let your phone provider block future texts from those numbers. If you think your text message is real, check that the link it is sending you to is the correct website.