Visa scams pose a persistent threat to tourists and travelers right from the planning and booking stages, yet they are often underreported.
Tourist and immigration visas are common documents and practices in most countries as methods of controlling the entry and stay of foreigners. Depending on the destination, the associated bureaucracy can vary in complexity, and waiting times may even be relatively long. Visa applications or similar permits come with fees and taxes, and some destinations also require additional local taxes and permits.
Official government channels (like website) usually offer dedicated spaces for applying for visas and paying the related fees, as well as providing information about them and their processes. In addition to these official channels, some legitimate private companies might offer intermediary services, facilitating these kinds of operations for a fee.
This is where scammers usually operate. Through fake agencies and bogus or cloned websites, they try to intercept those typing specific keywords into search engines or those targeted via social media advertising.
1) How It Works
Scammers usually lure victims through three major ways:
- Search Engine Ranking using SEO techniques and paid advertisements;
- Social Media Posts and Sponsored Ads, often artificially boosted with comments and reactions from bots, to attract victims’ attention.
- Phishing Emails: Cybercriminals might send emails pretending to be from an agency or official channel to lure the victim to a clone site or convince them to download malware. In this case, they attempt to intercept an ongoing process or request through other active channels.
The core of Visa scams typically consist of one of the following tactics:
- Clone Websites: These mimic official government or reputable visa agencies channels.
- Fake or Scam Agencies: These might have well-designed websites, good SEO, user experience, emails, and sometimes even fake support phone lines.
In either case, the websites may appear professional and convincing, offering services such as visa applications, renewals, and travel authorizations. Scammers often pay great attention to details (both SEO and graphic design), or money, to climb search engine rankings for certain keywords (e.g., visas for Indonesia) and quickly convince the victims to follow their calls to action.
They usually require you to fill out forms with personal information and then pay a fee. However, once you make the payment, you may receive nothing in return, or worse, receive fake visas and documents. Most of these scams aim to collect your personal and payment data for identity theft.
In the scenario of fake agencies, the scheme is usually more structured and backed by well-organized groups. With fake support chats or lines and a higher likelihood of sending counterfeit visas or similar documents, they are generally harder to spot in time. These scammers aim to seem legit and deceive their victims until they are about to depart or once they reach their destination, where they find out the documents are invalid.
2) What You Risk
Besides the financial loss, if you fill out the ID and payment forms of a visa scam, here’s what you risk, listed in order of severity:
- Payment Without Service: If you do not receive anything after your payment, you might be told to wait a few days or weeks for the “process to complete”. While legitimate visa applications can indeed involve waiting times, this is often just a tactic to collect your payment and buy time while they disappear.
- Receiving Fake Documents and only realizing the scam when you’re about to depart or have already arrived at your destination. This results in the inconvenience of having to redo everything. In addition, especially for specific local permits, you might find yourself in the awkward position of having to explain to the local authorities why you carry fake permits.
- Identity Theft: The worst risk is having your personal and payment information stolen. Scammers can use this data for social engineering, identity theft, and accessing your financial accounts.
In the case of fake agencies, if they are professional, the factor of time sadly works in favor of the scammers. This usually gives them more space to use the stolen personal and payment data.
3) How to Avoid It
Setting up a well made website, whether a clone or an original domain for a fake agency, complete with registration and IDs and payment forms, is a terrifyingly easy and quick task. Design, coding, SEO, and Google advertisements can be easily used to rank high in search engine results, especially by specialized individuals or organizations.
This means that it is crucial to pay close attention to details and conduct proper research during the planning phase of your trip. Here is a list of good practices to avoid visa scams:
- Use Official Government Websites: Most tourist-friendly countries have dedicated channels for providing visa information and services. Always start from there.
- Check the URLs: Ensure the website uses “https” and look for any signs that it might be a clone of a government site or a legitimate agency.
- If in doubt, contact and consult your country’s embassy or consulate in the destination country for advice on visa requirements and official channels.
- Double-check Non-official Sources: Always verify information from socials, blogs, forums, and other non-official sources. Some might be outdated or intended to create urgency for buying a service.
- Don’t Blindly Trust Search Engines: Even efficient search engines can be manipulated to rank scam sites higher. Always verify the legitimacy of the site.
- When possible, always prefer official channels for applications and payments.
- Be wary of Suspicious Emails and links from third parties during and after your visa application process. Always check the sender’s email address.
- If you intend to use a visa facilitation service or agency, research the company thoroughly through external sources to ensure they are legitimate and efficient. Be cautious of fake reviews.
- For Payments: Consider using dedicated apps or an account separate from your main finances.
In Case You Fall Victim
Monitor your identity and finances: If you realize you’ve been scammed, check the personal and payment data you’ve entered and contact the relevant authorities in your country, or your embassy or consulate, to report the scam and get guidance.
Report the issue to your bank or financial institution. Stay vigilant for any unusual activity in your accounts.
4) Extras And Thoughts
Additional Tip: Stay informed about extra charges like local taxes in specific countries, regions, cities or areas. Official channels typically offer direct payment methods and document delivery through their tourism and immigration sites.
This might help you avoid issues or delays due to valid taxes and, more importantly, prevents scammers from extorting money online or locally by claiming imaginary due taxes.
In this article, we did not cover legitimate agencies that excessively overprice their intermediary services. Although such practices are unfair, they are relatively easy to avoid by comparing prices, services, and reviews across different channels.
Personal View and Thanks
I would be lying if I said I could never fall for this type of scam. As mentioned, some scam sites and companies appear to offer legitimate services, making it easy to be deceived.
Additionally, official channels in some countries aren’t always clear or user-friendly. During my research for this article, I encountered a few official sites that weren’t even usable on mobile devices. This, combined with the variety of bureaucracy and fees from country to country, can easily create a sense of overwhelm and confusion for travelers seeking information for the first time.
Again, we encourage you to stay vigilant.
A special thank you to Annie for bringing this scam to our attention.
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