Halifax international student says he lost $6,000 in telephone scam

An international student studying at a Halifax university said he lost $6,000 in a telephone scam in which he feared he’d be arrested if he didn’t comply.

“Violated. I felt really violated,” Mehran Durrani said on Monday.

He said he received a phone call from someone claiming to be from Immigration Canada on March 28.

READ MORE: Halifax police warn about scam callers claiming to be Immigration Canada, HRP

The caller, who knew his address, said Durrani was suspected of being involved in terrorist activity and got him to cross-check the caller ID online to confirm the caller’s claimed authenticity.

During the conversation, he also got a call from a number he believed was from the Halifax Regional Police and was told he was going to be arrested within a couple of hours.

“He then made me merge the call with the immigration officer, and they kind of got into an argument. The immigration officer wanted more time. The cop was like, ‘We don’t have time,'” said Durrani, who is from Pakistan.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "He then made me merge the call with the immigration officer, and they kind of got into an argument. The immigration officer wanted more time. The cop was like, 'We don't have time,'" said Durrani, who is from Pakistan.

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He said he was also told that he was being watched, “and that really freaked me out.”

Durrani was convinced to transfer money through Western Union and MoneyGram for what was described as legal help from the United States, totalling about $6,000 after fees.

He was promised that if his criminal background check came back clean, he would be refunded his money.

Durrani, who works two jobs, said he felt pressured to do what the callers asked because he was concerned with completing his final semester of school and making sure nothing negatively impacted his career.

Const. Diane Penfound told Global News on Friday that police are investigating an alleged scam case.

She also said that these kinds of cases are difficult because it’s hard to determine where the calls originated from.

“If you have any inkling that it’s not a legitimate call, just tell the people that you’re going to hang up, look into it a little further, look the numbers up yourself, and call agencies and see if there’s any truth to the matter,” said Penfound.

One of Durrani’s friends started a crowdfunding campaign that has raised $5,447 so far.

“I’m so glad I’m in a country like Canada where people are so supportive,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I'm so glad I'm in a country like Canada where people are so supportive," he said.

Durrani said he hopes that sharing his story will help prevent similar cases from happening to others.