The Canadian embassy in Kenya issued a stern warning against fraudsters using WhatsApp and other social media platforms to con unsuspecting members of the public.
Through its social media platforms on Wednesday, January 4, the embassy urged Kenyans and others to be on high alert and avoid the cheap tricks.
It further directed applicants to visit their official website canada(dot)can(forward slash)en(forward slash)services(forward slash)immigration(hyphen)citizenship(dot)html.
"The real High Commission never processes visas via Whatsapp or other social media platforms and our officials do not solicit money in return for visas," read the warning in parts.
While on the website, interested applicants are offered various options to choose from, including work, citizenship, study, refugees and asylum, enforcement, and violation applications.
"Apply to travel, study, work or immigrate to Canada, apply for citizenship, a permanent resident card or refugee protection, check the status of your application or find a form," read part of the instructions on the site.
One of the tactics fraudsters use to con applicants via WhatsApp is by promising lucrative jobs with attractive benefits to all those who apply for visas through social media platforms.
Others lure innocent citizens to share ads on the platform for a chance to qualify for a visa.
Additionally, con artists send links that lead outside the social platform and to fraudulent websites that mimic the official visa and immigration website. Through these websites, personal data is collected and later used to rob or commit other cybercrimes.
"Hackers, scammers, and frauds have been trying to gather the personal data of the users, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, and employment status from various countries," Indiatvnews warned.
In July 2022, the Global Digital Fraud Trends revealed that credit card fraud was at the top of common online scams facing most Kenyans.
However, the report indicated a drop in global online fraud in 2022 compared to 2021 due to the increased security measures put in place by several authorities.
