CALGARY – The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is warning Albertans about a number of immigration scams reported to them in recent weeks.
In most cases, the CBSA says victims are threatened via email or phone by someone who tries to scare them into paying fictitious fees for immigration-related issues like permanent resident cards.
The CBSA says they will never:
- ask you to deposit money into a personal bank account.
- ask you to transfer money through private money transfer service.
- use free email services, such as Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, or Gmail for official communications.
- call individuals for the purpose of collecting money, or a payment, via telephone.
In another popular scam, the CBSA warns Canadians are meeting people online who say they are from overseas. Once they’ve established a relationship with that person, the scammer will say they plan to visit Canada, but will end up “detained at the border” unless a large sum money is transferred into a bank account to guarantee their release and entry into Canada.
If you think you may be a victim of a scam or know someone who may be, the CBSA asks you report it to info@antifraudcentre.ca.
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