The short answer
Official visa applications are made on the official website or through the partner it names. Anyone who promises a visa, a lower fare through a message, or an urgent payment by an unusual method is not helping you. Slow down, check the official page and the seller, pay by traceable means and keep receipts. If you are targeted, report it and tell your bank.
Key terms in plain English
- Phishing: a message that pretends to be from a trusted company to get your details or your money.
- Fake listing: a stay or a ticket that does not exist, or is not what it claims to be.
- Advance-fee scam: a request to pay first for something that never arrives.
Before the trip
- Fake visa sites and agents. Look-alike sites and agents who promise approval. Start from the official website and use the link on it.
- Fake bookings. A stay or a flight offered far below the usual price. Check the seller, and pay by traceable means.
- Fake refunds. A message about a cancelled flight with a link. Go to the airline’s own site, not the link.
- Fake support numbers. A search result with a number for “customer care”. Use the number on the official site.
On the trip
- Taxi tricks. Use an official rank, or a service you booked.
- Card tricks. Cover the keypad, use machines in busy places, and check statements.
- Friendly strangers. Be careful with offers of help, tours or “free” items.
- Wi-Fi. Avoid banking on open networks.
- Urgent messages. Call people back on a number you have saved.
If you are caught out
Call your bank and block the card, report the matter to the local police if needed, tell your insurer, and report cybercrime on the national portal. Keep screenshots and receipts.
Checklist
- To do: Start every application from the official website
- To do: Check web addresses letter by letter
- To do: Check a seller before paying, and pay by traceable means
- To do: Use the support number on the official site
- To do: Keep banking off open Wi-Fi
- To do: Save your bank’s block-a-card number offline
- To do: Know where to report fraud before you need it
Common mistakes
- Reacting to urgency. Scams rely on pressure.
- Trusting the top search result. Adverts can imitate official sites.
- Paying by an untraceable method. It is hard to recover.
- Staying quiet out of embarrassment. Reporting helps you and others.
- Sending passport photos casually. Share them only through official channels.
Things that change
Scams change shape, and so do official channels. Check the official page for how to apply and for any fraud warning.
Verify before you act
In India, report cybercrime on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and tell your bank. In Canada, see the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. To check an adviser, see GOV.UK: Find an immigration adviser.