How to avoid travel and visa scam - Williams Uchemba visa saga

How to avoid travel and visa scam

Lately Williams Uchemba, former Nollywood child actor has been dragged on the social media for posing as a fake Nigerian Youth Ambassador to the United Nations by Edafe Okporo who is a United States-based Nigerian Human Rights Activist. Uchemba was also reported of being allegedly involved in visa scam, defrauding unsuspecting Nigerian youths for UN Youth Assembly event. However, UN envoy has put up a statement saying that Williams Uchemba is not known to the organisation and UN does not charge fee at any stage for participating in meetings and conferences.  As a result of this, his initial Instagram bio with UN attached to it has metamorphosed severally to the current one without UN attached to it. Actually it is very wrong to claim alliance to any organisation so that one can pull in a certain audience who do so without questioning the credibility and authenticity of such business. This is a fraudulent act and there are other people who are in one way or the other involved in this kind of scam, going under the cover of big and credible organisations as impostors or using a fake travel agency to defraud innocent people. 

https://plustvafrica.com/news/fake-travel-agent-to-face-trial-over-₦265000-visa-fraud/

Travel and visa scams have made a lot of people loose their hard earned money and even their entire life savings. This is becoming very common these days most especially through fake opportunities of studying abroad and attending of international conferences. Some go as far as saying to their victims that embassy does not deny conference visa because of an invitation letter that the travel agency will issue to them. The last time I checked, you only need a visiting/ tourism visa to attend a conference and this visa can be denied by the embassy depending on the country's visa requirements. Most often huge amount of money is requested from you to be issued with an invitation letter that is completely free of charge from the institution organising the conference. When you are very desperate to travel abroad most often fraudsters bring to you an enticing fake travel offers because they know you will definitely fall for it. Desperation to travel also push people not to think properly and tend to believe all the white lies being told by these travel and visa agents. Traveling can be very expensive which makes some of  the traveling agencies to ride on this fact to defraud and steal from their victims. I would like to share with you 5 important tips on how to avoid travel and visa scam

1. Check for the authenticity of the travel or visa agency:

Make sure the agency is well registered and has a traceable office address; any travel agency without a physical address such as a street number cannot be taken seriously. Some scammers operate online without any office on ground. Never grant online deals as this is popular with scammers. Make sure your e-mail communication with the travel and visa agents include the companies address and phone number. Most e-mails sent from personal e-mail accounts that do not contain contact information could possibly be a scam. Always mount your guard when their e-mail messages contain spelling, capitalisation, punctuation or grammatical errors because no such organisation will employ an incompetent staff. Reference check on their success rate in terms of visa application is worth exploring. How many people have they assisted to secure their visas and how people have travelled through the agency? Never be swayed by amazing testimonials and stay away from people who make sweet and false promises because allocation of visa is beyond the jurisdiction of any travel or visa agency. 

2. Detailed explanation of the travel and visa procurement process

I am not against travel agencies doing their legitimate business but when the travel package and its expectations are not well explained, it becomes a bit worrisome to me. Some might use this ambiguous term of "fee being all inclusive" which when critically looked at, it does not cover major fees such as visa application fee and travel ticket.  Therefore, one has to dig deeper and be careful because even when the visa is denied, the money can never be returned rather a thousand and one reasons are given as why the visa is denied. Do some background check and research online from the websites of the agencies and embassy of the country you intend to visit to know the right questions to ask your travel and visa agents. Always demand for contractual agreement stating the contract expectation "what to expect and what not to expect". 

3. Avoid advance payment

No matter the pressure do not make an upfront payment, demanding for money straightaway without essential consultation is a red flag. During consultations while discussing with the agent; ask pertinent questions, read their body language and judge their reactions wisely. After the consultations, when you are ready to make payment, make sure you pay through an online platform so that the transaction can be traced by your bank in case of any fraud. Never disclose or share confidential information online such as bank details and PIN; some scammers request that you fill out your bank details on their website which is unacceptable.  

4. Participate actively in the process

Get actively involved in the entire process starting from filling of the form to the submission of the application form to be sure that you are not issued with a fake visa which can land you in jail. Submit your form in the company of your agent or yourself as some visa application and interview require the applicant's appearance. If possible also book your flight ticket yourself to avoid paying unnecessary fees such as phoney travel insurance. You can check online booking sites for cheap tickets.

5. Do not use travel agents for currency exchange

There are some travel agents who also pose as currency exchange traders and sell fake currency or sell foreign currency at a higher rate than the actual exchange rate. Do not to use the same travel agency for your money exchange as it can be risky. Visit your bank with your valid travel documents including International passport duly stamped with a valid visa, the bank has a stipulated amount called Personal Travel Allowance (PTA) and Business Travel Allowance (BTA) made available to Nigerian travellers that require foreign currency for their trip.  

Finally, start your travel process early enough to avoid last minute rush which puts one under pressure of contracting fake travel and visa agents.

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