Fraud and Scams
The Australian Embassy Beirut is aware of several email scams or tricks targeting Lebanese nationals, and nationals from other countries.
Most recently, Syrian nationals that are registered with the UNHCR are being targeted in an “Australia Resettlement Programme” scam.
People or ‘scammers’ may make contact with you via your email address. They may already have some of your personal details, for example your name, date of birth or passport number. The scammers may try to get more private information from you and ask for photos to complete their processing. They may ask you for money to continue part of the processing such as Entry Clearance”.
Take the following steps to protect yourself against email and internet scams:
- check the web address or email adress. Australian Government websites end in .gov.au (for example, www.border.gov.au, www.eta.immi.gov.au) or have .gov.au in the address.
- If you do have an application with us use our website to track the processing of your visa application
- never enter private information online unless the website is secure and you know who you are dealing with
- do not give money to people when you are unsure of who they are.
For more information please visit our website at the below link.
http://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa/migration-fraud-and-scams
Known Immigration Scams
The Australian Embassy Beirut is aware of several email scams targeting Lebanese nationals, in addition to nationals from other countries.
People called ‘scammers’ might try to get you to give them private information that could be used to steal your identity or trick you into paying them money.
Watch out for:
- emails sent from free web mail addresses, such as a Yahoo, Hotmail or Gmail accounts
- unexpected emails from strangers who are advertising a website – do not click on web links in these emails
- unexpected emails asking for personal information or emails with standard greetings, such as ‘Dear customer’
- offers guaranteeing you a job with a very high income.
Take the following steps to protect yourself against email and internet scams:
- check the web address. Australian Government websites end in .gov.au (for example, www.border.gov.au, www.eta.immi.gov.au)
- use our website to track the processing of your visa application
- never enter private information online unless the website is secure and you know who you are dealing with. Secure websites are locked. A locked website should:
have a padlock somewhere in the browser window (not in the web page display area). You can click on the lock to see details of the website’s security.
- Normally have a web page address that begins with https:// (there is an s after the http).
- A website that is not secure usually begins with http:// (there is not an s after the http).
If you are worried about a website, do a web search to see if anyone has reported any problems with it:
- visit the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s SCAMwatch radar web pages for details on the latest known scams - www.scamwatch.gov.au/
- When searching for a registered migration agent, use the Migration Agents Registration Authority search form.
KNOWN SCAMS
- pn email address scam
The Department is aware of a scam that uses email addresses ending in \'.pn\' to contact people seeking to migrate to Australia
The scammer contacts the victim through a fake email address and claims to be from the Department, or another Australian Government agency. The email address used by the scammer is not a genuine departmental email address and ends in \'.pn\'.
Some of the emails received claim that the recipient has been selected for the ‘2014 Family Resettlement Program’ and have been received from the email addresses:
Please note that emails received from these addresses (or any other address ending in pn) are not sent by the Australian Government. The email addresses are in no way affiliated with the Australian Embassy or the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.
News Update 14.11.2017:
The Department of Immigration and Border Protection is aware of an email scam involving a mailing address designed to appear as a genuine Australian government email address.
Individuals contacted via the bogus email address - [email protected] - are generally informed that they have been selected by random ballot for the "2017 United Nations Global Special Humanitarian and Family Resettlement to Australia".
The person targeted is asked to respond to the email and provide personal documents to the scammer. Individuals will then be asked to make a payment via money transfer.
This is a scam. This specific programme does not exist and Australia does not select prospective applicants for resettlement by random ballots.
If you receive an email that matches this scam we strongly recommend you do not respond.
The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) processes visa applications for Australia. If you are contacted by a person claiming to be from another organisation and promising access to an Australian visa, please report this to the DIBP
See our main website for more information and current alerts about migration fraud, scams and hoaxes.
Other know email scams:
[email protected] email scam
The Embassy has become aware of another scam involving the email address [email protected]
Victims claim to have received an email from this address guaranteeing a visa for Australia. Victims have reported paying substantial amounts of money to the sender in order to obtain a visa for Australia.
Systems checks have confirmed that no visa applications have been received by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection for the victims.