Abbotsford man falls victim to immigration fee scam

An Abbotsford man is out almost $2000 after being told to pay an immigration fee or face deportation.

Constable Ian MacDonald with the Abbotsford police says the victim received a call from someone claiming to be from Citizenship and Immigration Canada and says even the number on call display seemed to check out.

“There are programs and apps that will allow people to essentially make up whatever phone number they want and have it displayed. We’ve seen it from time to time. Unfortunately the level of sophistication with frauds is vastly increasing.”

The man was told to purchase pre-loaded credit cards and give the information over the phone, but the business that sold the credit cards became suspicious and contacted police.