British High Commissioner Warned Against Rising UK Visa Scams

Alex Ellis, the British High Commissioner to India, issued an alert for a UK visa scam on Twitter on Wednesday, pointing out that fraudulent visas are on the rise on the internet and are given to applicants in his name.

He also advised applicants to be wary if the deal appears ‘too good to be true.’

The update comes just two days after India’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom announced the resumption of the e-Visa facility in India.

Increase In Visa Scams

Alex in a Tweet said, “I am seeing an increase in visa scams, using my name.” He also warned applicants to be wary of three situations that could turn out to be trapped.

According to Alex be suspicious:

• If it sounds too good to be true – such as an easy job in the UK, or a way to get a UK visa quickly and easily.
• If you are guaranteed a visa to the UK using documents the scammer provides.
• If you are asked for money via email or phone. Do not share your bank account or credit card details. We’ll never ask you to make payments to personal accounts.

Alex also stated that many fake websites are designed to look like official UK government or visa enquiry services. Official UK government websites always include ‘.gov.uk’ at the end of their website addresses.

“Scammers may contact you by Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, or Gmail posing as a UKVI, VFS employee. Check the guidance and protect yourself: https://gov.uk/government/pub,” he added.

UK Visa Wait Times

Visa applications are currently taking an average of 7 weeks to process but some applications may take longer depending on their complexity. The UKVI is aiming for a three-week service standard.