Watch out for a known telephone scam targeting international students in Canada. This scam was recently reported in Ottawa and London but other cities may be affected too. The Government of Canada (Service Canada) will never ask you for any sort of payment via telephone.
The Government of Canada won’t telephone you to collect money or payments. They may sometimes contact you by telephone to get more information to continue processing an application, or to ask for more documents. But, they will never ask you for any sort of payment by telephone.
People can use telephone scams to steal your money or identity, which is why The Government of Canadae take strict measures to keep your information confidential. You should be very careful of scams asking for details like your credit card, bank account numbers, or any other payment information.
If you get a suspicious call, hang up right away and contact your local police to report it.
Remember:
- No one can guarantee you a job or a visa to Canada.
- Only immigration officers in Canada, at Canadian embassies, high commissions and consulates can decide to issue a visa.
- Processing fees are the same for all of our services in Canada and around the world.
- Fees in local currencies are based on official exchange rates.
- They’re the same amount as fees in Canadian dollars.
- The Government of Canada will ask you to pay fees for Canadian government services to the “Receiver General for Canada,” unless they state something different on a visa office website.
- The Government of Canada employees will never:
- ask you to deposit money into a personal bank account
- ask you to transfer money through private money transfer service
- threaten you
- offer special deals to people who want to immigrate or
- use free email services, such as Hotmail, Gmail or Yahoo Mail to contact you
- You can find free application forms and guides for all services.
- Be careful if the salary of a job you are applying for seems too high to be real.