IRCC Advisory: Beware of suspicious emails

There have been many reports of unsuspecting individuals being duped by emails supposedly from an immigration officer with the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

What all does the IRCC not do via email?

For anyone dealing with the IRCC for any reason, it is advisable to always remember that the IRCC will never –

1. Offer exclusive, time-bound promotions or special deals for visas/permits.
2. Confirm basic personal information provided by the applicant on the application forms.
3. Ask for credit card or banking information to collect any payment via email.
4. Send immigration documents, visas, certificates, or permits by email.

Remember that you will be required to pay your fees AFTER you have successfully submitted a completed application. It is only after completing each one of the individual sections of your online profile, uploading all required documents, and submitting your application that you will be required to proceed to pay your processing fees with a debit or credit card.

Processing fees is to be paid online only through a credit or debit card. There is no other way of paying the processing fees.

What are the red flags for spotting an email scam?

The email that you have received can be a phishing scheme or a scam if any of the following conditions is true –

• The email does not address you by name and uses a generalized standard way of greeting instead.
• The message is in the form of an image in place of text.
• There is an attachment that you did not ask for.
• You were not expecting the email.
• The email is sent from a private address of any of the free email addresses instead of being sent from the standard “gc.ca” email account of the government of Canada.
• You are asked to validate/confirm/update any of your personal details, such as – password, date of birth, or bank details.
• You are informed that prompt action by you is required for preventing negative consequence such as either your account being suspended or your application being cancelled.
• There is a special immigration/citizenship offer that sounds too good to be true.
• The links in the email redirect you to a fake website that is not a government of Canada or IRCC website.

Always keep in mind that any emails by IRCC will have an email address that ends with a “.ca”. Also, genuine emails that are sent by the IRCC are usually sent from a “do not reply” account.

What if I get a suspicious email?

If you do get a suspicious email –

• Do not reply to it.
• Report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre or your local police.

Being cautious of such emails can save you from unknowingly falling prey to various phishing schemes or immigration frauds.

Forewarned is indeed forearmed.

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