Hello everyone! I made an account solely to bring attention to an interesting scam that happened to me. Luckily I didn't fall for it, but I believe it could cheat a few people out of their money.
Premise: I think this scam works only if you've done a soft landing after receiving your COPR, i.e., for people who visit just long enough to finish all the landing formalities and decide to move on a later date. When we did a soft landing, we were not asked for our goods to follow/goods accompanying list.
The call started with a person formally introducing themselves as a CIC agent who has been assigned to my 'case'. He knew my full name, application date and my current PR status. Note: they've managed to copy the CIC toll free number and use it as their caller id. So it looks like the call is actually coming from CIC. He then proceeded to say that he had called me earlier but I told them that I would call back (I received no such call). When I pressed on, he said that a complaint and legal case has been raised on my PR application because I did not submit my (official sounding name) Goods to Follow form, and that it has escalated because I didn't call them earlier. Here, I said I would call him back because I was busy, and he immediately refused, saying that I had already asked them to call back the last time. This was the second red flag for me. He continued, asking me to pay the fine immediately or else I would lose my application status. At this point I thought this was complete nonsense. I said, "Sorry, but this sounds like a scam to me, what did you say your name was?" and he immediately hung up. We then went to our online application and checked, there was no mention of any case.
I am not the principal applicant, and most official emails go to the principal applicant. I think that's another one of their strategies, because the secondary applicant may not be well versed with all the application requirements and might submit to the claim in fear.
So anyway, I just wanted to give you all a heads up. If someone does receive the call and decides to prank the scammer, do let me know, I appreciate a good laugh =)
P.S : I do realize that there might be actual CIC calls, though we have never received one. Its always good to double check, but I highly doubt any of them would request/demand you to pay money immediately without giving you a chance to clarify it for yourself.
Premise: I think this scam works only if you've done a soft landing after receiving your COPR, i.e., for people who visit just long enough to finish all the landing formalities and decide to move on a later date. When we did a soft landing, we were not asked for our goods to follow/goods accompanying list.
The call started with a person formally introducing themselves as a CIC agent who has been assigned to my 'case'. He knew my full name, application date and my current PR status. Note: they've managed to copy the CIC toll free number and use it as their caller id. So it looks like the call is actually coming from CIC. He then proceeded to say that he had called me earlier but I told them that I would call back (I received no such call). When I pressed on, he said that a complaint and legal case has been raised on my PR application because I did not submit my (official sounding name) Goods to Follow form, and that it has escalated because I didn't call them earlier. Here, I said I would call him back because I was busy, and he immediately refused, saying that I had already asked them to call back the last time. This was the second red flag for me. He continued, asking me to pay the fine immediately or else I would lose my application status. At this point I thought this was complete nonsense. I said, "Sorry, but this sounds like a scam to me, what did you say your name was?" and he immediately hung up. We then went to our online application and checked, there was no mention of any case.
I am not the principal applicant, and most official emails go to the principal applicant. I think that's another one of their strategies, because the secondary applicant may not be well versed with all the application requirements and might submit to the claim in fear.
So anyway, I just wanted to give you all a heads up. If someone does receive the call and decides to prank the scammer, do let me know, I appreciate a good laugh =)
P.S : I do realize that there might be actual CIC calls, though we have never received one. Its always good to double check, but I highly doubt any of them would request/demand you to pay money immediately without giving you a chance to clarify it for yourself.
