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Students taken for a ride by consultants
Earlier this month officials from the Central Crime Station (CCS) arrested two fraudsters namely, K Daniel Praveen Peter and S Pramod, from Banjara Hills who created a website titled ‘quicker.com’ and duped over 80 people. From 14 cases in 2010 to 29 in 2012, the number of fake visa cases has been on the rise. According to latest statistics, 13 cases were recorded by the end of July, 2013. Most of the frauds come to light only after immigration officials stop people at Hyderabad and Mumbai airports. Officials of CCS arrested organisers of HR Company which has an office at Banjara Hills.
Around 13 cases of fake visas were reported by the end of July, 2013. Consultants promise the candidate to get him/her a seat in MS, MBA courses in foreign universities. Agents submit fake documents to these universities and manage to get visas. But, during the verification process by the immigration department, these admissions are proved to be false
Sudheer Goutham
Hyderabad: Earlier this month officials from the Central Crime Station (CCS) arrested two fraudsters namely, K Daniel Praveen Peter and S Pramod, from Banjara Hills who created a website titled ‘quicker.com’ and duped over 80 people. From 14 cases in 2010 to 29 in 2012, the number of fake visa cases has been on the rise. According to latest statistics, 13 cases were recorded by the end of July, 2013. Most of the frauds come to light only after immigration officials stop people at Hyderabad and Mumbai airports. Officials of CCS arrested organisers of HR Company which has an office at Banjara Hills.
There are many individuals cheating people by promising visas. They promise to get a seat for MS, MBA courses in foreign universities, mainly those based in the US and UK. Agents submit fake documents to these universities and manage to get visas. But, in the verification process by the immigration department at Mumbai and Delhi, these admissions are proved to be false. This January, the Task Force police arrested Rajnish Reddy and Md Moin Baba of Matrix consultants in Habsiguda for producing fake visas.
Another visa agent, B Shiva Kumar, was arrested in Gandhinagar along with fake visa documents. Most consultants promise aspiring candidates of a visa within a month and charge anywhere between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh. Once they collect the money the consultants promise the candidates a job within three months. Candidates are lured by job opportunities in America, Canada and UK and even in Cuba, Georgia, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Consultants in the twin cities claim to have branches in other cities as well and entice gullible students with promise in reputed universities abroad.
“To sound more realistic, these agencies also furnish details of pay packages to the graduates and intermediate pass outs. They quote an initial salary by the company around $ 5,000 and after all the expenses, take home cash would at least go up to Rs. 50,000,” explained the official. If the agent is persuasive enough the candidates hand out a huge chunk of money to hasten the processing, trapping himself in the quandary.
What to look for
Certified agents need to possess documents from Protector General of Immigration under the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs. • After issuing the visa, the agents usually demand a huge amount in the name of guarantee fee. As per the government norms, the fee should not exceed Rs 20,000. The External Affairs Ministry issues certificates to companies. Only after verifying these details, should the candidate take the next step. Never hand over original passports or any other documents to these agents or companies as handing over passports to another individual is a violation of passport norms.
