Why Nigerians fall prey to scammers in their ‘japa’ plan — Trulink Travel Consultant

The quest for seeking greener pastures outside the shores of Nigeria has led many to fall victim of fraud packages, with fake travel agencies impersonating genuine travel consultants.

In this interview with WALE OLAPADE, the Principal Immigration Consultant of Trulink Immigration Services, Mr Toyosi Labeodan, a London-trained barrister and a physiotherapist speaks on the challenges facing the travel consultancy business, why people fall victims and the safe route his company has put in place for applicants seeking to travel to Canada.

WHAT is Trulink Travel all about?

Our real name is Trulink Immigration Services also known as Trulink Travel. It is
a travel agency that helps people that want to migrate to other countries outside their coun try of origin. We have our head office in Ed-monton, Canada but have an online presence everywhere so anywhere you are, we can be of help. We process study visas, tourist and visitors visas, permanent migration visas, investment visas and so many others.

How long have you been in business and what have been your challenges?

We have been in the travel industry for over 10 years and we have assisted so many people achieve their travel dreams over this period.

What did you think about the ‘japa’ syndrome and the news of scammers in the travel consultancy business?

‘Japa’ syndrome is as a result of people believing that they can get a better life outside their current country of residence. That is true for so many people travelling abroad. For example, you will have a level-playing field when you migrate to Canada: access to free health care services, better security, good education for your kids, etc. These are a few of what people are looking for.
I am of the opinion that if Nigeria is good and we provide these basic things, many people may not want to travel out of their country of residence.

Another thing is that when they compare what they get in the new country they migrate to with what they earn in their home country, they will prefer to remain in their new place of abode.

Moreover, these scenarios have actually brought in many scammers into the field.

Scammers have been able to leverage on people’s desperation and they end up using that to defraud people of their hard earned money by claiming to be whom they are not. These scammers also go as far as impersonating travel and immigration companies who are genuinely helping individual and family to achieve their travel goals. In the cause of impersonating them, some of these applicants are desperate and the scammers offer the applicants unbelievable packages, which they (the applicants) jump at and at the end of the day, they are scammed of their hard-earned money. And at times you see these victims keep coming back to you and say that ‘I paid you for these services and you did not deliver’ and by the time you check their documents and tell them they are not genuine, they find out that it was not you, but a clone account or scammers, they will be disappointed.

How do you know you are falling prey to travel scam or scammers?

Ways to know that you are dealing with a scammer is when you are a given a job offer and you are requested to pay a certain fee, that is a scam offer because in Canada, no principal will ask you to pay for a job offer, it is illegal. So, if anyone gives you such preposition, it is definitely a scam and I advise you to run.

In order not to fall prey to fraudulent agents, do thorough research on any travel or immigration consultant.

Secondly, if you are asked to pay for Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), it is fraud because that document is supposed to be processed and paid for by the employer and everyone knows that and it is not your duty as a potential employee. If anyone approaches you with that, it is likely to be a scam, so run.

Thirdly, if someone is giving you a job offer and there is no job interview conducted by the employer before giving you the job, this I am 100 percent sure is a scam. I am also an employer of labour in Canada and I don’t think I want to employ anybody without interview.

No, there must be an interview. And it is also hard to see agents outside Canada helping their Canadian representative to do interviews.

No, interviews will be from Canada and most times and even right now they can do zoom interviews and you can be at any part of the world and conduct a zoom interview. I have a client who did a zoom interview in Nigeria and he got the job before he entered Canada. So, if someone got a job offer without doing an interview, that is likely to be a scam, because it is very hard for someone to give you a job without interviewing you to know if you are fit for the job.

The fourth one is, if you are being offered a job you are not qualified for, for example, if ! give you a position for a medical doctor and you do not have a license to work as a doctor, can that offer be valid? I have seen many people who come to me with job offers as truck drivers and they don’t have Canadian driver’s licence. How will you do that? Nobody will give you a job in Canada without you having the prerequisites for the job. If you to get a driving job in Canada, you need to pass a process to get a valid licence. Some people get job offer for jobs they are not qualified for.
How can you do or fit into such jobs? You can be a nurse and get a job offer for a fruit picker in a farm or a doctor giving a job offer to work as a chef, definitely, they cannot fit in.

So, if you are given a job you do not have qualification for, please check very well, that process of job offer must be a scam. Even if it is a low skill job, employers must still want someone that knows what they are doing there. Also it is easy to get a visa if the work they are giving you is related to your qualification.

The fifth thing is if the offer sound too good to be true, please run. I hear a lot and see a lot of things about people who have been scammed and when they come to us, they relate to us what those scammers told them.

At times, some of the scammers told them that they are going to get free flight ticket, accommodation, food, etc. Is Canada all that free? Don’t get me wrong, but there are some levels of support from the employ-ers, but there are some low skill jobs that the employer has to pay for your flight and if possible, the employer might be able to give you accommodation but it has to be removed from your monthly salary. But you are working as a high-skilled person and you expect the employer will pay for all that? No, it doesn’t work like that in Canada.

I am in Canada but people outside Canada give you a lot of offers, tell you a lot of things that are impossible but because people are desperate and are looking for a faster route to come to Canada, they get easily carried away when they tell them these things. So, if what the agent are telling you sound too good to be true, run away from them.
So what do you advise applicants to do?

There are too many scammers out there, people need to be careful and do their research very well; go online, check very well and be sure that you do your research well and if you do your research well, you will distinguish the genuine travel consultants from the scammers. If you want to pay to anyone, do your research by going to their official chan-nels, online and website to confirm. Be careful when people tell you that they are agents to any travel company. Don’t make any payment until you have fully confirmed. In addition, if anyone is giving you an offer that is too good to be true, you better run or do thorough investigation to see that they are genuine before making any payment.