Fake Canadian Immigration Team

[amrin911]

Re: Fake Canadian Immigration Team ottawa


hello
I got same kind of call today stating i need to update my ioc card. and same as u saying me to right away go n pay money with Canada post n not disconnect the Call. But it sound fishy to me as y would they say me to pay 675 right away always there vl b a deadline if it was true immigration call. So I disconnected the call. n wen I came n check on google I found out it was scam. Thank god saved. This people have mostly all ur info n they claim they are from legal immigration dept n ur documents are missing that vl cause u problem later.I don't knw how this people get all ur latest info. Please Canadian immigration dept should do sumthing to stop this. They have almost all info about ur status n details. bloody frauds spoiled my morning.

 

[kkkmay2013]

I also received a fake call today from a Lady (sounded Asian) saying that she represents CIC verfication department and that my PR process was on hold as Indian High commission has sent them my file stating I do not have Indian Overseas Citizenship card. At first it looked to be real...thank God I did not reveal all information. She then transferred me to another lady (sounded European) who is supposed to be a case worker.
Sorry...but there is no point in tracing the origin of who is the caller as North America has highest immigration and I do not want to offend anyone. This is a fraud team who is after easy money and vulnerable prey like us.

The entire call went for about 25 mins. As i was confused and more doubtful (for the mere reason that CIC never calls individual, all communications are via email) but you don't want to take chance and sound arrogant (what if it was real). It all boiled down to money. And the moment she said that for previous fees they have deducted money from my account on the application fees earlier. I was sure that there is something wrong as CIC never deducts money directly from your account. CIC always intimates you of the fees associated. So I asked her to verify my home address on which she put on hold and later the call got disconnected.

To all out there...we have been hanging tight through the entire process...plz be careful when you share your personal information and do not reveal anything on the phone. I will be surely sending a email to CIC asking for guidance and probably inform RCMP about personal information getting compromised / identity theft etc.

 

[saikumarch]

Hi Every one,

I got a similar fake calls in the morning and I was so panic. When it comes to the payment of CAD 650.00 fee to process IOC, I requested them to give the credentials of the account to send money using credit card. They refused to accept my credit card payment which was suspicious for me. I requested them to hold for couple of minutes over the phone and enquire with my friends regarding my situation. Unfortunately, nobody had good knowledge about the IOC registration. Finally, i requested them to send an official mail on the peace of CIC's letter head to follow up. They were satisfied to send me an email and mail. After wards, i looked at this forum which gave me bit relax that i was not wrong.

The only mistake i did was, I had shared my old passport credentials. Please beware and do not panic when you get calls from an unknown number.

Do i need to file a case against them with the cyber police in Canada?

 

[ZingyDNA]

I don't understand how those frauds know our name, phone numbers and the fact that we are applying for PR?

 

[Hope1957]

Exactly! =\

I don't understand how those frauds know our name, phone numbers and the fact that we are applying for PR?

 

[kapil90]

Very true...!!!!

 

[kapil90]

I also recived a same type of call last week by a lady named Stacey Jones (Sounded Asian)
the same conversation related the IOC registration from the canadian high commission and in the end later it all regards the money that need to be send to india of 250 Canadian dollars under the officer name of Mohan Singh of the canadian high commission

Later I complained about the number and the call to the Alberta cyber police ,As mentioned, According to the number its been informed that these people were using smart phone with some software in it to call.....and the address came up as safdarjung in Newdelhi INDIA, and some parts in Newdelhi itself........ I belive these people are running a very big scam with more than 20-30 people .... we need to do something to stop these poeple......

 

[iamroth]

I don't understand how those frauds know our name, phone numbers and the fact that we are applying for PR?

There are people inside the immigration department who would sell information in a batch. Mostly employees at a very bottom level like clerks or mail room employees who have access to these files. Then they give it to those Scammers.

 

[ZingyDNA]

There are people inside the immigration department who would sell information in a batch. Mostly employees at a very bottom level like clerks or mail room employees who have access to these files. Then they give it to those Scammers.

That's very unprofessional and dangerous. I can't believe something like this is happening in CIC. No wonder now they want applicants to blacken out SIN numbers on their copies of T4. This is obviously to avoid potential ID thefts..

 

[kushari]

That's very unprofessional and dangerous. I can't believe something like this is happening in CIC. No wonder now they want applicants to blacken out SIN numbers on their copies of T4. This is obviously to avoid potential ID thefts..

There are bad people everywhere, CIC is not immune.

 

[LPS]

That's very unprofessional and dangerous. I can't believe something like this is happening in CIC. No wonder now they want applicants to blacken out SIN numbers on their copies of T4. This is obviously to avoid potential ID thefts..

Regardless of whether there's a mole inside CIC, it still makes sense that they instruct applicants to black out their SIN. Only certain government bodies are entitled to request your SIN, and CIC is not one (see http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/sc/sin/index.shtml for a summary).

This all makes me think - I don't answer my phone to numbers I don't recognise. They can leave a voicemail if they like, but they never do. How many of these missed calls were some numpty trying to trick me into sending them money?

 

[SenoritaBella]

A few ways I protect myself, and hopefully they are helpful to others:
1. do not give out any personal information if you did not initiate the call. Do not share such information with friends, family, etc either.

2. shred all documents that contain personal information. At work, put it in the confidential waste bin for proper and secure disposal.

3. Request your credit report from Equifax and TransUnion each year (you are entitled to one free credit report from each of them yearly).

4. Ask the credit bureaus about putting a "fraud alert" message on your credit profile. With this, any creditor that wants to approve you for a credit card or increase your credit limit must first send you a letter which you sign(if you want to) and send back before they can process the transaction.

Your credit report will list any creditors/businesses that have done a credit check on you in the last 7 years. For example: you are not a CIBC bank client, never applied for their credit card, but you see that CIBC bank did a credit check on you. That's a red flag and you should follow up.

5. Check your credit card and debit statements monthly to ensure there are no unusual transactions.

6. Learn to say NO. People will ask you for favors which may need you to give out your personal information. Take some time and think through their request before you do anything. Do not be pressured into agreeing to anything.

Someone recently asked me for a copy of my PR card and/or my provincial ID card. Said they were told by the office that issues provincial health cards to bring the ID of a PR or citizen who can confirm they infact live in the city. I told them nicely that I was not confortable doing that.

 

[ZingyDNA]

Someone recently asked me for a copy of my PR card and/or my provincial ID card. Said they were told by the office that issues provincial health cards to bring the ID of a PR or citizen who can confirm they infact live in the city. I told them nicely that I was not confortable doing that.

I would ask the provincial health office to contact me directly, if they want me to verify something for someone I know. I don't think giving my ID to the people I verify is the right way, anyways.

 

[Matt the Aussie]

Regardless of whether there's a mole inside CIC, it still makes sense that they instruct applicants to black out their SIN. Only certain government bodies are entitled to request your SIN, and CIC is not one (see http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/sc/sin/index.shtml for a summary).

This all makes me think - I don't answer my phone to numbers I don't recognise. They can leave a voicemail if they like, but they never do. How many of these missed calls were some numpty trying to trick me into sending them money?

More people should follow the bolded segment. It's exactly how I operate too.

Sometimes I have even received voicemails of people starting their scam script before they realise no one is on the other end of the line...

 

[hahamylove]

Thank all of you so much for sharing this experience! Wish it will never happen to any of us again but if it did, at least we are prepared!