“They promised me a confirmed job offer and visa for $5000 and now I can’t get a hold of them”.
“They said university acceptance is guaranteed with my profile because they got admission for students with less GPA than mine. I paid $10000 but now I cannot reach them and I did not get any admission”.
“I hired a consultant for my daughter’s immigration but he ran away with my $12000”.
👀 Who do you blame in all of the above situations?
The scammers?
Of course, but I blame the victim too. Unpopular opinion, I know, but hear me out!
🛶 Do you agree that we need certain basic survival skills to stay alive? Coughing out the food if we’re choking, not giving our house keys and wallet to strangers, avoiding a speeding car? Well, unless you’re not responsible for making any decisions anymore (maybe you’re in jail already), spotting scams is a required survival skill. I think even in jail someone will try to scam you out of something. You just gotta learn how to spot them to survive.
⚠️ A friend of a friend was applying for immigration to Canada and hired a legit-looking immigration consultant. Initially, the consultant charged very small, reasonable amounts as consulting fees. And then comes the documents fee, processing fee, “everything is ready, you just need to pay X amount”, and “there was a problem with your document but it can be fixed by Y amount” and a long list of complications. At each point they make it feel like this is the last hurdle in the process and after this, you’ll get your job offer and visa. By the time that friend realized it was all a scam, $20,000 was gone.
✋ But How Do We Spot Scams Before It’s Too Late?
Since I made such a big deal about learning how to spot scams and told you it’s a survival skill in 2022, it’s only fair I give you some tips on how to spot these scams. This list is, by no means, complete, and I myself nearly got scammed on Facebook but that’s a story for another time. Here’s how to spot the most common immigration/jobs and scholarships scams.
1. Too Good To Be True 🚀
If it sounds too good to be true, it’s probably a scam. Nothing in life is free, and certainly no good comes out of believing au contraire. The odds of winning the jackpot in a game like Lotto are approximately 1 in 14 million, similar to the odds of putting the name of everyone in Ontario in a hat - a very large hat - and randomly pulling out your own. So if someone is randomly approaching you with insane offers, visa in 10 days, confirmed job offer of $100K a year, and immigration of family members included, it’s very likely to be a scam.
2. There are no Guarantees in Life, and in Immigration 💯
If anyone is giving you “guarantees” for getting you a visa, job, scholarship, or immigration, it’s a dead giveaway that it’s a fraud. There are no guarantees when it comes to these things in any country. No one can tell the outcome of your application with absolute certainty, there are simply too many variables involved, too many things that can go wrong. I know we all want assurances when we are spending large amounts of money, but trust me it’s absolutely a scam if it guarantees you money back or 100% success or anything. A non-scam consultant or immigration lawyer will tell you straightforwardly that there are no guarantees in this process.
3. Information Mismatch ℹ️
This will be a bit tricky to implement but I promise you it’s worth it. It will improve your search and research skills, not just about immigration but everything else in life.
Check → Check → Check → And Double-Check.
The most underrated way to spot immigration scammers is to google things. If you’re someone who can read and type, then you’ve got no excuse. Double-checking any information should be a habit. Ask the consultant to break down the document processing fees, consultation fees, and processing times. Then go on the government-authorized website of the country, and verify the information. If their fees or processing times or documents required don’t match the information, that should be your first clue that it’s a scam. The Government of Canada has a very easy-to-understand and comprehensive website when it comes to information about immigration, and all it takes is a google search to verify the info you’re getting from your consultant.
4. Look for Common Scam Tactics 📩
- Getting a suspicious email soon after you searched for any immigration program, telling you that you have been shortlisted for immigration
- Websites that look legit, have the country flags and official looks, but the URL is suspicious
- Contact info listed on the websites, phone numbers, physical addresses either don’t exist or don’t respond
- Check if the website has been reported on the internet
- Read testimonials of previous success, see if those people are real, try to get in touch with some if possible outside of the website
5. Immigration Lawyer vs. Consultant 👩⚖️
The government of Canada and most other governments recommend hiring an immigration lawyer over an immigration consultant because you can verify the credentials of a lawyer. Inside Canada, there are also licensed consultants that you can hire for any immigration-related questions and you can find out if your lawyer or consultant is authorized here.
👑 Best Advice
Lose the fear of “my application will get rejected if I apply by myself and make a mistake”. It is a very common fear that has absolutely no foundation. If you make a mistake, it’s okay, request a correction as soon as you realize it. Missed a document, don’t worry your application won’t get “rejected” right away because of missing information. Instead, you will be asked to provide that information during the application process. Make a checklist of documents and check them off one by one as you upload them. The system won’t let you miss any document in the first place. Don’t understand anything during the application process? Google it. Every question you have about your application has been answered by someone on the internet before. Just find it.
And if you really have to hire someone, know that a lot of scammers are out there to get you. Do your due diligence before you become another one of their victims.
❤My Favourite Things
📕Book:
Another unpopular opinion this week, I’m reading “Millionaire Fastlane” and I’m not liking it. It sounds more like the publicity for a book than the book itself. I’ve lost track of the number of times “Fastlane” and “Slowlane” are mentioned on each page. I’ve also lost track of how many times the “wrong way” and “what others are telling you” and the “four hour work week” is criticized but halfway through the book, I haven’t found any concrete actionable intel yet. So far it has just been how great I am and how great this book is. Don’t kill me for this, please!
🎶Music:
I’m listening to Imagine Dragons on my AirPods and imagining myself at their concerts because even though the concert is happening in Montreal, it’s way too expensive for a student to attend. Sad Life!
🔍I’m Learning:
I’m taking this course called PTYA by Ali Abdaal and I thought it would be about YouTube but the course is actually jam-packed with entrepreneurship and business strategies. I’m learning things like audience avatar, competitor analysis, planning and projections, analytics, content coal mines, hiring and managing a team and so much more. I’ll be tweeting about lessons learned from PTYA so follow me on Twitter if you don’t already.
