Austraia Immigration scam targets migrants

Scamwatch is warning consumers to be aware of calls from scammers claiming to be from the 'Department of Immigration' threatening you with deportation and demanding money.
The ACCC and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) have been getting reports of scammers claiming to be government officials. The scammers call migrants and temporary visa holders and threaten them with deportation supposedly because of problems with their immigration paperwork or visa status.
Scammers are demanding up-front fees of around $1,000 to resubmit forms. These scam phone calls appear to be targeting people from India and Pakistan. The ACCC has received 150 reports of this scam since February with more than $35,000 reported lost.
Scammers may try to pressure you by calling repeatedly and harassing you, even threatening to send the police to your house – but if you give your money to a scammer you will never see it again. The DIBP has confirmed that it does not ask for any payment of fines or penalties by telephone.
Be on guard, if you receive a phone call from someone threatening you with deportation and asking you to pay a fee, hang up and do not respond. If in doubt, don’t use any contact details provided by the caller - look up the government department or organisation yourself in the phone book or online and phone or email them.

How these scams work

• you receive a call out of the blue from someone claiming to be from the 'Department of Immigration'
• you may be left a message on your answering machine asking you to ring a number
• the caller will claim that you have issues with your immigration forms or visa status
• the caller will tell you that in order to resolve the matter you will need to pay a fee or fine
• the caller may try to get information from you like your passport details, date of birth or bank information
• the caller may claim the police will come to your door and arrest you if you do not pay the fee or fine immediately
• the caller may even offer to send a taxi to your house to take you to the nearest post office to make a payment via wire transfer or other electronic payment method
• if you send any money via wire transfer, you will never see it again – it’s nearly impossible to recover money sent this way
• if you provide any personal information, the scammer may use it to commit identity theft.

Protect yourself

• if you receive a phone call out of the blue from someone claiming to be from the DIBP telling you that you will be deported unless you pay a fine, hang up
• if you have any doubts about the identity of any caller who claims to represent a government department, contact the department directly. Don’t rely on numbers, email addresses or websites provided by the caller – find them through an independent source such as a phone book or online search
• never send any money via wire transfer to anyone you do not know or trust
• never give your personal information or bank account details over the phone unless you made the call and the phone number came from a trusted source. If you think you have provided your details to a scammer, contact your bank or financial institution immediately.

Report

You can report immigration fraud matters to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection through their Immigration Dob-In Service(link is external).
You can report scams to the ACCC via the Scamwatch report a scam page or by calling 1300 795 995.

More information

Stay one step ahead of scammers, follow @Scamwatch_gov(link is external) on Twitter.

Immigration cancels 11,000 visas of non-genuine students

Immigration authorities have cancelled almost 11,000 visas of non-genuine students in the year ending June, an increase of more than a third compared with the previous corresponding period.

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection cancelled 10,949 student visas between the start of July last year and the end of June this year, compared with 8018 in the previous year and 8930 in the year ending June 2013.

The new figures come as the government puts the finishing touches on its streamlined visa-processing framework, with a working group of international education sector stakeholders holding its last meeting last week. The government is hopeful of implementing the scheme, which will reduce the number of student visa subclasses from eight to two, by the middle of next year.

“The SSVF (simplified student visa framework) will mean a broader, simpler, fairer framework for both international students and Australian education providers,” Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Michaelia Cash writes inThe Australian today. “It will benefit Australia’s international education sector through reduced red tape, a visa framework that is simpler to navigate and a more targeted approach to immigration integrity.”

The visa cancellation figures, obtained by the HES, show Chinese students had the biggest number of student visa cancella­tions, with 1793 cancelled in the past 12 months. More than 1160 South Korean students had their visas cancelled, followed in number by India, Vietnam and Thailand. The total number of student visas issued rose by 2 per cent, from 292,060 to 299,540.

The changed student visa framework will include country risk measurements, assigning a rating based on the country of origin of students. This will be combined with a risk rating based on an education provider’s past ­performance.

Phil Honeywood, chief executive of the International Education Association of Australia, said the present system allowed low-quality education providers to misuse the visa streamlining scheme.

“A key reason for ditching the current streamlined visa procedures is that too many low-quality education providers have been gaming the system, and this has meant students have been attracted to enrolling in such providers as an easy visa pathway to Australia,” Mr Honeywood said.

“Fortunately, the Immigration Department has been able to monitor many of these and has been prepared to cancel visas for non-genuine students.

“However, any quality student destination country should be on top of these non-genuine student cases at the application stage rather than after a visa has been issued.

“Because of effective consultation with the sector, we are hopeful that the new SSVF will significantly improve both the ­quality of providers and the checks and balances on genuine student approvals.”

The most recent high-profile case of a college misusing student visas was early last month, when authorities raided the offices of one provider, accusing three Melbourne men of falsely enrolling international students, creating fraudulent documents and not providing appropriate education.

Instead, it is alleged international students were working as contractors for a labour­ hire business owned by the men, while continuing to pay high tuition fees to maintain their enrolment status and student visas.

Several larger providers, including sector heavyweight Navitas, have cancelled contracts with some third-party ­agencies that source international ­students.

Education Minister Christopher Pyne also has moved to push out unscrupulous education agents, announcing a code of ethics and a feasibility study into an industry-led quality framework for agents.

“The quality of the educational services that Australia offers to the rest of the world is an asset that we should protect and enhance,” Mr Pyne said.

“International education is Australia’s fourth largest export industry overall and our largest services export ahead of tourism, so maintaining our strong reputation for quality is important.”

Source: The Australian