SBS Punjabi contacted the Indian High Commissioner Mr Navdeep Suri to seek some answers in this matter.
In conversation with Preeti McCarthy, Mr Suri admitted that the Indian High Commission has been aware of such scams since the past one year and till now they know of twenty such cases. He said that they have tried to inform relevant authorities both in Australian and India regarding these scams. He told SBS Punjabi that the Indian High Commission does not have the authority to investigate such issues, so has to depend on other organizations to chase up the matter. However, as soon as the High Commission gets reports of such scams, it puts alerts out on their website, twitter account and Facebook page. They also use their network with the Indian community organizations to spread awareness and also bring the matter to the attention of the Australian authorities.
"It's the investigative agency's job to find where the data is leaking from"
Mr Suri said that there are three categories in which these scams are happening. According to the reports that they have received, the callers have claimed to be calling from either the High Commission or one of their consulate offices, VFS or Department Of Immigration.
When asked about the data security within VFS, Mr Suri said that the High Commission was sure there was no leak within the system because they have checked the tabulated sheets within the department and found out that most of the scam victims had never seeks any services from either VFS or the Indian High Commission. He also pointed out that in some cases, the caller talked about the victim’s port of entry or arrival date which has nothing to do with either VFS or Indian High Commission. Therefore, he pointed out that there must be a third party from where the information may have been leaked. Keeping this in mind, he said they have also informed the Australian border protection services about these scams.
"We recognize it's a serious issue"
Mr Suri did admit that these scams are a serious issue that that it was harassment of Indian citizens. Even though they have informed authorities on both sides regarding these scams, Mr Suri said they have had no success so far from either side. He did add that it was only recently that they found out about the manner in which western union was being used in these cases.
"It is harassment if Indian individuals"
Mr Suri said spreading awareness regarding these scams was vital and asked for SBS Punjabi’s assistance in putting out two key messages:
First, that neither the High Commission or its consulates nor VFS would ever call individuals on such matters, and
Second, even if people receive such a call, they should not be stampeded in to giving money to a bogus entity.
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