Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has renewed its fraud warning after a spike in reports of scammers using AI-generated voices and video deepfakes to pose as Canadian immigration officers. The advisory, posted 7 October 2026, lists common ruses: fake phone calls demanding immediate payment to avoid deportation, phishing emails linking to look-alike IRCC portals, and offers of guaranteed job offers or visas—for a fee. The department stresses that its staff never threaten arrest over the phone, never request payment via gift cards or Western Union, and never email from Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo accounts. Newcomers are urged to verify any unexpected request by calling the IRCC Contact Centre and to report incidents to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. The alert follows high-profile cases in Punjab where applicants lost thousands of dollars to fraudsters who used AI tools to create convincing ID badges and video calls. Industry groups say the sophistication of deepfakes is eroding traditional red-flag training that focused on poor grammar or generic salutations. For employers and relocation managers, the advisory is a reminder to build fraud-awareness training into onboarding sessions for foreign hires. Companies can mitigate risk by funnelling all immigration correspondence through corporate email accounts and licensed counsel, reducing the chance that staff interact with impostors.
Source: IRCC.com
