Scammers posing as Canadian immigration experts exploited Facebook and WhatsApp groups to target migrants in a months long data harvesting scheme. In some cases, migrants wrapped up in the scam are convinced to recruit over a dozen more desperate people, allegedly in exchange for help applying and paying for a visa. That help never comes. Instead, users find themselves redirected to fake websites created to suck up their personal data.
The scam, which reportedly targets Facebook and WhatsApp groups with tens of thousands of mostly Latin American and African users, was revealed in an investigation by the Tech Transparency Project. Those scam posts reportedly violate multiple Meta policies and remained on Meta’s platform long after fact-checkers and government officials from Canada and Latin America publicly raised concerns, the TPP alleges.
Scammers involved in the scheme crafted fake posts claiming the Canadian government is recruiting around 450,000 migrant workers. The posts, which claim to originate from Canadian legal experts, go on to offer migrants free travel and housing, immediate work permits and legal assistance if they follow a link. The migrants are then redirected to a third party website which collects their email addresses, names, marital status, and occupation. TPP traces the scam posts back to…
