Minister Hussen marks the 15^th annual Fraud Prevention Month campaign

Ottawa, March 1, 2019 – The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, issued the following statement:

Each year, hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world choose to make Canada their home – whether temporarily or permanently. Unfortunately, there are people who try to take advantage of individuals going through the immigration or citizenship application process.

The Government of Canada is committed to protecting Canadians and newcomers from falling victim to fraud. As the 15th annual Fraud Prevention Month campaign kicks off today, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is raising awareness of how to identify and report immigration scams to protect yourself and others from the often disastrous consequences that can result from fraud.

During March, IRCC is working to raise public awareness of how to recognize social media scams and fraudulent websites, how to properly choose an immigration or citizenship consultant, and how to report fraud when it happens.

Each week in March, IRCC’s website and social media channels will highlight 4 distinct types of fraud that immigrants and Canadians alike have encountered:

March 4 to 10: Don’t fall for a disappearing act – how to identify and avoid “ghost” consultants.

March 11 to 17: Preventing fraud – know what to look for, and what the consequences could be.

March 18 to 24: Spot a scam – make sure you know what a social media or Web scam looks like.

March 25 to 31: Know your rights – detecting fraud and deception in the private refugee sponsorship stream.

You can get more useful fraud prevention tips, find out where to report scams, and learn how to make sure an immigration or citizenship representative is authorized by visiting Canada.ca/immigration-fraud. Helpful tip sheets on using a representative and preventing immigration scams can also be found there.

Please also follow IRCC’s social media accounts to get information each week that will help you spot and prevent immigration fraud:

• www.facebook.com/CitCanada
• https://twitter.com/CitImmCanada
• www.instagram.com/CitImmCanada
• www.youtube.com/CitImmCanada