Common Online Immigration Scams

The internet is full of hustlers and scam artists. These thieves include a special group who like to take advantage of people looking for a better life through immigration. You need to always be aware and proceed with caution when giving your personal information to websites. Canadian Immigration scams are unfortunately very active on the internet. It helps to be able to know how to spot a scam and what the top scams are to be in the lookout for are.

Because Canada has such a progressive immigration policy and so many people are interested in immigrating, there is a lot of misinformation out there. With misinformation comes misinformed people, and this is what the scam artist preys on. In 2018 it was announced that the Canadian government planned to welcome over a million new immigrants over the coming years, there has been a surge in scam offers and pages ever since and it has become increasingly difficult to separate the good from the rotten apples.

Popular Immigration Scams

Job Offer Scams

Individuals will either set up a fake recruitment company, or even use an existing company's information to generate fake offers.

Fake recruitment companies will ask for large cash deposits in steps to do things such as set up your profile, match you with jobs, handle employment contracts and procure work permits. While they create the illusion of making progress, it is in fact all fake. Securing a Canadian job offer should have a relatively low cost, aside from your time. Using the services of online job portals, even if they have a subscription fee, is a far more secure and effective way to earn a legitimate offer of employment.

Using an existing company’s information to generate offers of employment has become a serious problem in Canada. Reputable companies names are being used in this scam in the same way, but by people posing as immigration lawyers who generate fake offers from the companies. The targets are asked to pay large sums (up to $3000) and undergo false telephone interviews with the companies, receive false offers of employment and even false work permits. The first and most important thing to do when dealing with immigration lawyers is to see their licence. All Canadian immigration lawyers must be licensed and registered with the Canadian government.

Always keep in mind that your job offer must also be accompanied by a LMIA (Labour Market Impact Assessment). This is an assessment done by companies to show the position can not be filled by a Canadian citizen. Nearly all job offers must be accompanied by the LMIA with only a few exceptions such as care providers. Here are a few more tips on how to spot a fake job offer.

Fake Immigration Websites

There are both 'original' sites that appear to be legit and near identical copies of legitimate immigration websites out there, here are a few things to look out for when entering an immigration websites page:

• the web page is secure. There is a small lock icon on the left of the address bar or “https://" appears in front of the address.
• the address in the bar is the same as the one you entered
• you do your own investigation into the websites legitimacy, there are many forums out there where people report fake or dangerous web pages.
• you never use a website from an unsolicited email
• keep your browser up to date, this will help filter out illegitimate web pages

The Scam Everyone is Talking About

A woman in Toronto has allegedly scammed over six hundred hopeful Filipino immigrants out of nearly two million dollars. The now identified Imeldo Fronda Saluma, also known as “Mel” defrauded hundreds of people and has been charged with seventy three cases of fraud. Saluma set up a fake employment agency, GoWest Jobs International, which was the front to create false employment offers, reusing documents and falsifying permits.

Saluma got her victims through one of the most trusted forms of recommendation, word of mouth, which only serves to show how careful you need to be when enlisting the services of a consultant. The possibility of Canadian Immigration is a dream for a lot of people, don't let predators destroy those dreams. Always be cautious and remember, if it seems to good to be true, it probably is.

Where We Come In

By now you probably know that when considering migrating to Canada, the only person you should contact for assistance is a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC). Introducing our team of top tier RCIC’s in good standing with the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC):

David Allon

Identification #R513335

Jimmy Park

Identification #R510391

We encourage you to investigate our RCIC’s on your own in order to feel secure before considering engaging our services. When you are ready, complete our contact form so we can begin the process of immigrating to Canada the right way, on the right foot.