警惕冒充移民官针对新移民的电话诈骗

逗逗飞

Phone scammers target newcomers to Canada, pretending to be immigration officials

A Toronto woman almost became the victim of an elaborate scam targeting newcomers after she received a phone call Thursday from someone purporting to be from Citizenship and Immigration Canada demanding payment of a $2,500 fine.

• Phone scam uses officer, federal agent and hydro company impersonation: police
• National Do Not Call List number used in phone scam
  

Georgina Perez told CBC News the caller said she had failed to file some paperwork with the Mexican consulate and that she had to pay a penalty.

"This guy kept saying, 'You have to make a decision, you have to make a decision,'" she said. "For the first 40 minutes I thought it was legit and I was scared."

If she didn't pay the fine immediately, Perez said the caller told her she would have to go court and potentially face deportation.

The Toronto woman was completely confused by the call, having lived in Canada since 2002.

Perez checked the call display screen and saw that it identified the caller as Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). The caller gave her his badge number and offered to let Perez talk to a supervisor, she said.

Targeting immigrants

While this was happening, Perez used her cellphone to call CIC and was told that all her paperwork was in order.

The department has issued several public service alerts this year telling new immigrants to be wary of these types of calls.

Toronto Police said they receive complaints every day about similar scams, usually involving a fraudster posing as a government employee. The calls carry a false sense of authority and are specifically targeting immigrants, Const. Victor Kwong said.

"These groups will actually go through Canada411 or phone books looking for ethnic last names on the off chance that when they call [someone] they actually are in the immigration system," he said.

Concern for refugees

But staff at CIC would never accept fine payments over the phone by pre-paid credit cards or private money transfers, a spokesman told CBC News.

Perez said she wanted people to know about the scam, especially given the influx of Syrian refugees arriving now and in the coming weeks.

"If there was somebody who doesn't understand English very well or someone who's been here for less time, for sure if they were close to a deportation they will do anything."

逗逗飞

警惕冒充移民局官员的诈骗电话

近期，一些不法分子冒充加拿大移民局诈骗移民，一名多伦多的移民女士上周四几乎上当受骗。该女士收到据称移民局官员的电话，要求她缴纳两千五百元的罚款。

该女士名叫Georgina Perez。她告诉加拿大广播公司新闻部，来电说她未能提交应提交给墨西哥领事馆的文件，因此要求她缴纳罚款。 “他不断催促我赶紧做出决定，在开始的四十分钟，我还以为那真是法定的什么规矩，我还真被吓着了。” 来电者威胁说如果她不立即支付罚款，她会被告上法庭，那样的话就可能被驱逐出境。该女士被这通电话完全搞懵了，因为她从2002年起就已经住在加拿大了。她查看来电显示发现该电话的确显示着来电者名称Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). 来电者向她提供了工号，甚至说她可以联系他的上级。好在该女士马上改用手机联系了加拿大移民局，并被告知她的文件并没有什么问题。

多伦多警察局今年已经发布了多次警告告知新移民警惕以上种种类似的诈骗电话。多伦多警察局说他们每天都会收到多次类似举报，诈骗者惯常使用政府机关工作人员的名义实施犯罪活动。尤其是针对移民的这类诈骗，对方通常在电话中造成一种官方的感觉以达到目的。该警局Victor Kwong警官说：这些犯罪集团实际上通过查号台或电话黄页来查看接听者的姓来分辨对方是否移民，以使他们的诈骗电话更有效。

加拿大移民局发言人告诉加拿大广播公司，事实上加拿大移民局禁止工作人员通过电话要求信用卡信息或人汇票接收罚款。该发言人Perez说，她希望人们了解这些诈骗手段，尤其是近期到达的大量叙利亚难民。那些英文不好、刚来不了解情况、或正好有被驱逐可能的人最容易上当受骗。

harrylau

警钟长鸣