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Mark Day | Business Development Manager

Beware - Scam Alert!

02/01/2023

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It’s recently come to our attention that a fraudster is attempting to cheat individuals, by claiming that they are associated with White Rose Visas.

Unfortunately, we don’t know the real name of this person, but aliases that they have gone by include ‘Albert Edward’, ‘George Adams’, and ‘Timothy McKinney’. This fraudster seems to switch up their alias and Facebook profile on a very frequent basis.

The fraudster seems to operate by finding people on one of the Facebook groups dedicated to immigration advice, for example this one. They then demand money up front for services that they are unable to provide; for example finding the individual a suitable job offer and sponsor to allow them to gain a visa to the UK. All of this communication is conducted only on Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or similar platforms. If asked for a phone number and address, the fraudster provides the details of White Rose Visas: in an attempt to benefit from our excellent online reputation.

Needless to say, White Rose Visas have absolutely no connection with this person.

If anyone is approached by this person - most likely in a similar way to the above - please get in touch with White Rose Visas straight away. We would love to receive any information that you have about the fraudster, since it will help our ongoing attempts to pursue them through all legal means. The more information we can gain about this fraudster, the better we will be able to take effective action against them.

Sadly, this is a reminder to follow a few important rules when it comes to selecting your immigration adviser:

  1. The most important rule is to check carefully that the adviser is properly regulated. This is done by either the Law Society, or the OISC, and the best thing to do is to search directly on their registers.
  2. Be alert to any warning signs: these include hassling a client to make urgent payment for no good reason, making threats (‘well, if you don’t want the job, I’ll easily find someone else who does’), or making promises that that can’t be kept (finding a sponsored job for the client would be an example - this is a task for a recruitment agent, not an immigration consultant).
  3. Do search for good reviews, ideally including the name of the adviser who you are dealing with. You can find all of White Rose Visas’ reviews here.
  4. If you have any concerns whatsoever, pick up the phone and call your adviser. Fraudsters typically try to deal in anonymous message-only formats like Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp. Though we love to communicate electronically with our clients at White Rose Visas, there is always a time and place for more personal communication, such as a phone call or even an in person meeting. If your instincts suggest that something isn’t right, don’t ignore them - phone to make sure.

We go into a bit more detail on how to choose an immigration adviser on this page.

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