She came to Canada for university, but she'd never been accepted. The scam cost her $7K

With an admittance missive to a Quebec assemblage successful hand, Aminata flew from Benin, westbound Africa, to Montreal with $2,000 successful her pouch to fulfil her imagination of pursuing higher acquisition successful Canada.

Back successful 2022, she'd connected with a antheral who she says positioned himself arsenic a advisor who could process her documents and taxable her assemblage and migration applications.

But not agelong aft she landed successful Montreal and made her mode to Chicoutimi, Que., she realized it was each a scam.

She had not been accepted to university. She did not person a scholarship. Her migration papers were fraudulent and based connected a falsified acceptance letter.

"My imagination turned into a nightmare," Aminata said.

CBC is utilizing a pseudonym to support her individuality because, owed to her falsified migration papers, she is without ineligible presumption successful Canada.

Clasping her hands portion sitting successful her flat successful Chicoutimi, nearly 2 years aft the ordeal, the 30-year-old Beninois inactive doesn't consciousness settled oregon safe.

"I'm surviving with the fearfulness that astatine immoderate clip I tin get deported," she said. "This is not a life."

Aminata doesn't privation to spell backmost location now, saying she would person to wholly "start again" successful Benin.

Aminata was not the lone unfortunate of the scam. CBC News has spoken to different pistillate who says the aforesaid antheral who presented himself arsenic a advisor took her wealth aft helium was hired to taxable her assemblage applications.

According to an expert, not lone is this benignant of fraud becoming common, but prospective students successful Africa are among those targeted by scammers successful precocious numbers.

'I gave him each my money'

For Aminata, it each started erstwhile she came into interaction with the advisor done her uncle. She said the brace agreed connected $4,000 earlier the terms for the agent's work went up.

"I gave him each my money," she said, adding that it totalled astir $7,000 successful the end.

She sent on the required documents — her commencement certificate and diplomas. Within a fewer months, she was emailed an acceptance missive into the maestro of enactment absorption programme astatine the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi.

She says the antheral besides managed to get her the Quebec Acceptance Certificate (CAQ) — the province's mandatory papers which permits planetary students to use for a survey permit.

Although she considered deferring her acceptance to enactment successful Benin to prevention up money, she says the agent, who is besides from Benin and studied successful Chicoutimi, pressured her to publication the flights and commencement schoolhouse immediately.

"He asked maine to not worry. [That] everything is nether control," she said.

But thing was off. She arrived successful Montreal connected Aug. 28, 2023, and successful specified days, the full strategy unraveled.

WATCH | Aminata says her imagination turned into a nightmare:  

She says the advisor abruptly informed her helium was deferring her acceptance. A chap Chicoutimi pupil successful whom she confided astir her concern told Aminata she needed to spell to the medication to benignant retired her presumption arsenic a student.

She says the advisor wouldn't reply her calls but erstwhile she yet got him connected the line, helium became defensive, started shouting, and told her not to springiness the schoolhouse the documentation and acceptance missive helium provided.

"They told maine that they consciousness similar I person been scammed," she recalled the school's medication saying, adding that she recovered retired her existent exertion record was unfastened but incomplete. She says the advisor had submitted fraudulent paperwork.

"That day, I was feeling similar this is not true," she said.

Another victim, aforesaid story

Fatim lone realized she was a unfortunate of a scam aft seeing Aminata's communicative successful a Radio-Canada report.

"Her communicative was the aforesaid arsenic mine," said Fatim, who travelled to Quebec from Benin successful July 2023.

CBC News is besides utilizing a pseudonym to support her individuality due to the fact that of her concerns implicit her migration status.

She arrived with the volition of starting assemblage successful Chicoutimi aft receiving an admittance missive and documentation from the aforesaid advisor arsenic Aminata.

Upon arrival, she says the advisor abandoned her contempt promises to assistance her defer her acceptance.

"I didn't cognize it was fraud but I had felt that thing was not normal," said Fatim, who says she inactive feels overwhelmed and "imprisoned" by her situation.

Her father, who was liable for connecting with the consultant, sent him thousands of dollars to assistance unafraid the assemblage applications — adjacent selling a spot to spend it.

Knowing the effort and wealth helium enactment into helping her, Fatim says she tried to support the information from him aft her schooling fell through.

"One time my dada said, 'my girl, archer maine what's truly going on?'" said Fatim. "I retrieve it similar it was yesterday."

She said erstwhile her begetter recovered retired what happened, his wellness took a crook for the worse.

"He felt liable for getting his girl into occupation without adjacent knowing it."

He died successful December 2024, and Fatim couldn't get backmost home.

Although she considered returning to Benin to her household and hubby — whom she hasn't seen successful astir 2 years — she says she wants to physique a beingness for herself successful Canada and beryllium to Immigration Canada that this was genuinely not her fault.

She says the cause had antecedently told her she could use for asylum successful Canada to unafraid her migration presumption — a measurement she said didn't consciousness right. She says she didn't privation to maltreatment Canada's system.

Fatim recalled telling the consultant, "I privation different mode retired of this messiness you've gotten maine into."

CBC News contacted the antheral who Aminata and Fatim accidental scammed them. In a little telephone call, helium denied allegations that helium is an cause who helps radical taxable applications to university. He besides denied having taken immoderate money.

CBC has not been capable to scope him for travel up questions oregon an interview. His fig has since been deactivated.

Dozens of fraudulent admittance letters

The mode things are, victims of migration fraud often person small recourse, says Richard Kurland, an migration lawyer and argumentation expert based successful Vancouver.

He says it's besides much hard for radical to bash their owed diligence due to the fact that they are little acquainted with the Canadian assemblage system.

"The connection infrastructure is not the same," helium said. "And virtually immoderate radical person sold the workplace to get to Canada to study. Now those are tragedies."

In his career, helium says scams for migration overseas survey permits person go arsenic "common arsenic Vancouver rain."

The Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC) says 44 cases of fraudulent admittance letters were identified by the registrar's bureau betwixt June and December 2023.

While astir of the individuals who received these letters did not amusement up connected campus, 12 did, said a assemblage spokesperson successful an emailed statement.

In cases wherever individuals showed up connected field with a CAQ papers and survey licence obtained done the falsified letter, UQAC says they took the "necessary precautions to counsel the authorities."

UQAC says respective calls were made to Quebec's Ministry of Immigration, Francization and Integration to question the validity of the CAQ paperwork obtained by these students.

In an emailed statement, the ministry told CBC that successful the past fewer years, admittance letters containing "irregular elements" and "inauthentic" parts have been detected successful respective files.

"Although these situations stay marginal successful narration to the wide measurement of requests processed, they are rigorously monitored," work the statement. 

The ministry besides confirmed that successful bid to enactment arsenic an migration consultant, an idiosyncratic indispensable beryllium recognized arsenic specified by the government. When an migration advisor obtains this recognition, his oregon her sanction is entered successful the register of migration consultants.

The sanction of the advisor some women utilized is not portion of the province's list.

1,550 survey licence applications linked to fraud

In 2023, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced that investigations uncovered astir 1,550 survey licence applications were linked to fraudulent letters of acceptance. This fig besides includes those that were detected 2 to three years prior, it says. 

These applications were intended for designated learning institutions (DLIs) — a schoolhouse approved by a provincial oregon territorial authorities to big planetary students, read the statement.

"In astir of these cases, the fraud was detected and consequent applications were refused," it said.

IRCC says the verification process for acceptance letters requires that DLIs verify the authenticity of each letters.

To date, the improved missive of acceptance verification strategy has intercepted much than 10,000 perchance fraudulent letters of acceptance, IRCC says.

'Nobody is doing anything'

Both Fatim and Aminata person blocked the consultant's fig and are being represented by the aforesaid lawyer successful their effort to find a solution for their cases and determination forward.

Aminata says erstwhile she was archetypal informed astir the scam, she told UQAC that the cause who falsified her acceptance was a student. UQAC confirmed to Radio-Canada that helium was past expelled from his assemblage program.

Aminata applied to the assemblage again, contacted the premier minister, the national curate of immigration, provincial politicians, the anti-fraud work and section police.

"After that, determination was a silence," she said.

Saguenay constabulary confirmed to Radio-Canada that they could not instrumentality connected Aminata's record due to the fact that the fraud happened overseas. In an emailed statement, it says "the unfortunate was referred to her embassy and section constabulary force."

"They asked maine to speech and I talked and cipher is doing anything," Aminata said.

"I inactive person that small spot of airy … anticipation that things volition change."