Melbourne: Some recent Indian nationals arriving in Australia and migrants to Australia, have received fraudulent calls from unauthorised persons about their Australian visa / immigration status.

“At times the callers have even spoofed the phone numbers allotted to the High Commission of India, Canberra or its Consulates in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth or their Service Provider viz., M/s VFS Global”, as issued in a statement by Nachiketa Jha, First secretary (PIC), High Commission of India, Yarralumla-ACT.

“These calls are not made by any authorized officials from these offices. It may be noteworthy that the Indian High Commission or its Consulates usually do not deal with the immigrant Indians regarding their Australian visa / immigration status”.

The Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade, Government of Australia and Australian Federal Police have been informed about these suspicious calls.

Since, this is a matter concerning Australian Visa, it is suggested that such incidents be reported to local police authorities and a copy of report be forwarded to visa@hcindia-au.org.

Guidelines are available at http://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa/migration-fraud-and-scams

By K. Dev