India warns citizens in Canada against fraud callers claiming to be consulate officials

Ottawa: The Indian mission in Canada has issued an advisory warning Indian citizens against scam calls about visas, immigration status and job offers by fraudsters claiming to be consulate officials.

In a post on X on Thursday, the Consulate General of India, Toronto, said that Indian nationals in the country continue to receive "spoofing calls" from "unscrupulous elements", who have occasionally claimed to be officials from the consulate.

These calls are often about Canadian visas, Permanent Residence, immigration status, job offers, among other things, it said.


The consulate advised Indian nationals not to entertain such "suspicious telephone calls" made in its name, and not to reveal any personal information or transfer any money in response to such calls.

"This Consulate only deals in consular services of India like passport, police clearance certificate, visa, Overseas Citizenship of India, affidavit and power of attorney for India. In all such cases if any additional documentation is required from an existing applicant, it is sought only through email(s) originating from the email domain (at)mea.gov.in," it said.

"In rare cases when Consulate's officials call applicant, the name of official, department of Consulate, nature and serial number of application are mandatorily disclosed to applicant. Moreover, no form of payment is ever demanded by Consulate officials over such calls," it added.

The consulate urged anyone who has received such calls to report the matter immediately to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (1-888-495-8501) and the nearest police station with all details.