In the past weeks, SBS Punjabi exposed yet another visa scam that was conducted in the name of VFS where a community member, Jatinder Singh from Sydney, was scammed into transferring almost $2000 overseas. To get some answers to this reoccurring event, SBS Punjabi contacted VFS and got in touch with the Chief Operating Officer, Australasia, Mr Sriram Narayan who is based in Bangkok, Thailand.
Dismissing the idea that vital information of clients was being leaked or hacked from the VFS office, Mr Narayan told SBS Punjabi that their system was very secure and that their data security measures are audited through ISO standards.
“We have data integrity. Our data integrity is 100 per cent”
Mr Narayan insisted that VFS had nothing to do with the visa scams and that its name was being dragged into it. Mr Narayan told SBS Punjabi that even though client information transits through VFS, it does not retain the information of its clients or visa applicants.
On being questioned regarding any concerns VFS may have in connection to its name being used for the scams and if VFS was taking any action to clear its name or prevent such scams from happening in the future, Mr Narayan mentioned that VFS has filed a complaint with the police both in Australia and India regarding its name being used in the scam. However, when asked if they had taken any action prior to Jatinder’s case, he was unable to comment on it.
Mr Narayan also mentioned that VFS does not investigate such cases as it does not have ‘locus standi’ in this matter and that it’s the victim’s responsibility to file a complaint with police or criminal justice system and if keen, to follow up with legal case.
"We do not have locus standi to investigate such cases"
VFS, has however, filed a complaint with AFP and police in India regarding Jatinder’s case but only with regards to ‘Spoofing’ which is a name used for the scam where someone else’s phone number can be altered to make it appear on the receiver’s phone which was the case in Jatinder’s case where the caller appeared to be calling from VFS contact number.
After SBS Punjabi contact VFS regarding the visa scam (Jatinder’s case), VFS issued a statement to SBS Punjabi in which they also confirmed that they had no one by the name of Alex Johnson working for them. This was the name used by the scammer who called jatinder.
VFS’s advice to community members is to stay vigilant, read the scam information and disclaimers on VFs and Indian High Commission’s website. If anyone receives a call claiming to be VFs and asking for money or threatening deportation, VFs advises to hand up immediately and contact VFS to confirm the facts instead.
Source: vfsglobal.com
For more information on scam alerts and VFS and Indian High commission disclaimers, please visit :
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