It’s been a stressful day. You’re nodding off on the bus when your phone pings. Startled, you read the message:

“NETFLIX REMINDER. Payment method on hold. Please confirm your billing information to avoid account cancellation.”

You’re in panic mode. I can’t let them cancel my Netflix!

There’s a link at the end of the message. Your finger hovers over it.

Spoiler alert: that text is a scam.

Scams Targeting International Students

Almost half of Canadians have fallen for scams. Nearly 2/3 of them are aged 18-34, which is the age of most university students. And international students are among the most vulnerable.

One common scam sees people impersonating Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). They call international students, telling them that their visa is invalid or that there’s a warrant out for their arrest. In both cases, they ask for money, threatening arrest and deportation if the victim doesn’t pay.

In another example, 700 students from India received fraudulent acceptance letters to Canadian universities. When they arrived in Canada, they were told that these universities were full and they would have to study elsewhere.

After these students graduated and had worked in Canada for a few years, they applied for permanent residency. The Canadian Border Security Agency (CBSA) saw that the original acceptance letters were fake (which suggested that the students had fraudulently entered the country) and issued deportation notices this year.

Fortunately, then-Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Sean Fraser announced on June 14, 2023, that the students could stay in Canada for now, though their fight might not be over yet.

On June 23, Canadian police arrested Brijesh Mishra, a Jalahandar-based immigration agent who had provided many of the fake acceptance letters. He is currently detained in Canada, facing five criminal charges.

A more recent scam appeared in Kingston, Ontario in September. International students are being contacted by people claiming to be police from their home country working with Canadian authorities. The students are told to send money to prove that they’re innocent of criminal activity. Several people have lost thousands of dollars as a result.

Besides these specific cases, there are multiple scams targeting both international and domestic students. We’ll be looking at two kinds in this article: scams directly sent to students (both through text messages/calls and through social media); and fake listings found on rental websites.

Social Media Scams

Let’s start with the basics. Who here has received texts about “prizes,” phone calls from “tech support,” or emails straight up asking for money? Probably everyone reading this article.

To give you an example, here’s an email I received in my Navigator inbox this September:

“Hi, I have very bad news for you. Unfortunately, your private data was compromised … [If] you don’t want those videos to be leaked, please follow the instructions. You pay $750 USD, and there will be nothing to worry about. No chats, no photos, nothing. Every single file will be deleted and virus removed from your machine … You have 2 days to make the transfer.”

Hopefully, most students would see this email, chuckle or roll their eyes, and immediately delete it. However, some people might panic and click on the link to make the transfer. If that happens, they’ll never see their money again. In some cases, the link will unleash a virus, which is especially destructive.

Sometimes, it’s easy to tell whether something is a scam. But other times, it’s more difficult.

Pankaj Jangir escaped a LinkedIn scam after coming to Canada last year for his MBA. He received a connection request from the representative of a finance company. After looking at their profile and the company website (which existed), he accepted the request.

To Jangir’s surprise, they asked for an interview. Despite finding the request unusual, he was interested and agreed to a Zoom video call a few days later.

Red flags soon appeared. Jangir found the company name on the BC Business Registry, but it wasn’t available on Canada’s Business Registries. He asked the interviewer for another registration name, but that one didn’t exist either. At this point, Jangir thought, “Okay, let’s play ball. Let’s see what they have.”

Next, he and the other interviewee were given math calculations to solve. That’s when Jangir knew it was a scam: “This was too fishy for me. How come they’re giving me training while they’re taking my interview?”

Then, the interviewer asked for Jangir’s social insurance number (SIN). Companies will ask for your SIN when you’ve been hired, but not during an interview.

Jangir left the call and immediately blocked the company.

This experience wasn’t Jangir’s first encounter with scams. He’d seen them while practicing law in India, once representing a client who’d lost 15 million rupees—close to $250k CAD. (The client was only able to recover 1 million, or $16k CAD.)

However, Jangir’s narrow escape showed him how elaborate scamming had become. He’s heard of other cases where international students have been catfished and blackmailed into sending money—an important issue that he says isn’t being discussed.

He also pointed out that, once people send overseas scammers money, the police are unable to get it back. And due to privacy laws, they can’t just enter people’s phones and stop them from clicking on links.

“If you click on these things, you don’t know how they will turn out,” Jangir said. “No one else can save you afterwards. If some damage is done, it’s done.”

Kush Sachdeva has also seen his fair share of scams and wants more students to become cyber aware.

Before coming to VIU to study for his BBA (International Business Major) and BA (Philosophy), Sachdeva advertised on Classifieds. One day, he received a message from a person who wanted to buy his Mac. Sachdeva checked the address the man had shared: it was a commercial building, not a residence.

To test his theory, Sachdeva sent a package to the address. When a few days had passed, he asked for his payment. The man told him he’d get it once the package arrived.

After a delay, the scammer received his parcel—of cow dung. Naturally, he was furious. “What have you done?” he asked.

Sachdeva was ruthless: “I didn’t get the money as promised, you didn’t get your stuff as promised.”

Since then, Sachdeva has received many scam texts and calls. Once, someone called claiming to be from Telus. Sachdeva started making outrageous demands: the newly released iPhone 17 Pro Max (doesn’t exist), 2000 gigs of Internet per week (not possible), and satellite coverage (not a thing). Each time, the caller said he could provide it.

Finally, Sachdeva spoke to the man in Hindi: “Stop doing this. This is insane. It’s two o’clock at night in the country and you’re [asking] for money? You don’t have any morals, any conscience?”

Sachdeva has watched many YouTube videos about scammers and scam busts. Most call centers are based in India and Bangladesh, which are linked to centers in the United States. They target people globally and at home. According to a July 2021 Microsoft survey, India has the highest number of fraud victims.

It’s important to remember, however, that scammers can be found in any country. We shouldn’t single out one particular demographic or country but focus on protecting everyone by making cyber awareness a priority.

While VIUSU has online campaigns for Cyber Security Month (October), there’s no physical event. Both Jangir and Sachdeva want more of an on-campus component, where people are reminded of scams so they don’t fall for them.