The Consulate General of India in São Paulo has issued an urgent advisory after detecting a surge in fraudulent websites posing as India’s official e-Tourist visa portal. Updated on 24 July 2026, the notice lists three high-traffic domains—e-touristvisaindia.com, indianvisaonline.org.in and e-visaindia.com—that mimic the government gateway’s design to harvest fees and personal data from unsuspecting travellers. Consular officials stress that the only legitimate application link is indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa, managed by the Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi. Brazil is India’s fastest-growing South American source market, sending more than 80,000 visitors in 2025, many of them business delegates in pharmaceuticals, agritech and information technology. The fake portals often charge up to US$200—triple the authorised fee—and issue confirmation emails that airlines reject at check-in, leading to missed flights and reputational damage for Indian trade partners hosting Brazilian delegations. The mission has requested travel agents, corporate mobility teams and Chambers of Commerce to circulate the advisory immediately. Victims are encouraged to file cyber-fraud complaints with Brazilian police and forward evidence to the Consulate’s dedicated email address for coordination with India’s Cyber Crime Cell. As phishing operations become more sophisticated—replicating government seals, payment gateways and chatbot pop-ups—experts recommend verifying the SSL certificate of any visa site and checking that URLs end with “.gov.in”. Companies sending staff to India should embed the official link in travel approval workflows and advise employees never to click sponsored ads in search results.
