Sometimes emails are sent by people pretending to be Best Migration Services and requesting that you supply personal details, account passwords, credit card details and/or payment. BMS endeavours to ensure that all personal communication between us and our clients is conducted through our secure ICT Infrastructure.

Australian Visa Scams

Scams target people of all backgrounds, ages and income levels. The Department of Home Affairs provides detailed information on how to protect yourself from migration fraud.

See: http://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/Trav/Visa/migration-fraud-and-scams

Some of the recent scams and warnings are listed on this website under the ‘Current Scams’ heading.

Warning Signs

• You get an offer for a ‘guaranteed’ Australian visa or an offer for Family Resettlement in Australia.
• The offer comes via email, post, over the phone, on a website or even face-to-face.
• A visa is offered in return for payments, personal details and identity documents.
• The person making the offer claims to know someone in the Australian High Commission and may present as a ‘registered agent’ or ‘Australian visa application service’.
• It claims to be a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’, or your ‘only’ chance to travel or migrate to Australia.
• You are asked to pay the scammer upfront to ‘register’ your interest in getting a visa. The scammer asks you to pay them directly rather than paying the government department and claims that only they can pay the department’s fees.
• The scammer claims to have a special relationship with the Department of Home Affairs.
• They tell you they need to keep your original documents.
• They may try to trick you into believing they are genuine by posing as staff from an Australian Government department, or by using websites which look like official Government sites.
• They commonly give you incorrect advice, ask you to lie on application forms, demand money and fail to deliver services.

What to Remember

• There is only one official Australian Government provider of visas – the Department of Home Affairs (HA). HA’s official website is www.homeaffairs.gov.au.
• If you receive an email from the HA processing office in Australia the email address must end in “@abf.gov.au” or “@homeaffairs.gov.au”.
• It is easy for illegal operators to copy a real website or build one that looks professional. Even if one character is different, it can mean it is a different website or an email address.
• You can pay the fee directly to the department and do not require an agent to pay this fee on your behalf.
• No one can influence the outcome of a visa application or the visa decision making process. Visas are granted only by authorised officers from HA if the relevant visa requirements are met.

How to Protect Yourself

• Be suspicious if you are contacted by phone, post, email or approached in person about a visa you did not apply for. The department does not contact people offering visas or asking for money to rectify a mistake. Any new information is always updated on Department of Home Affair’s official website www.homeaffairs.gov.au.
• If you wish to use an Australian migration agent, check they are registered on the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority website (https://www.mara.gov.au)
• Never give or send anyone your original identity documents. Government departments may wish to view your original documents in person or may ask for certified photocopies but should never ask to keep your original documents.
• Never provide your personal, credit card or banking details in an email or over the phone—scammers will use your details to commit identity fraud or steal your money.
• If you think you have provided your bank account details to a scammer, contact your bank or financial institution immediately.
• Never provide private information online unless it is a secure site and you know who you are dealing with. Secure sites are locked with a padlock in the browser window or secure URL at the beginning of the address (that is, https://)
• Job offers should be approached with caution and verified with the business in Australia.

Where to Report Incidents

• People with information about migration scams or illegal operators should contact Australian Home Affairs via http://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/about/contact/immigration-and-citizenship-online-report
• If you are the victim of a scam, report it to your local police. You can also report it to the website run by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
• ACCC’s website. See: www.scamwatch.gov.au.

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